


The Blood That Makes Me Run

by jks_microwave



Series: The Place Where You Are [2]
Category: TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: A lot of sass, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, An unholy amount of puns, Angst, Dragons, Enemies to Lovers, Established Jeon Jungkook/Kim Taehyung | V, Established Kim Namjoon | RM/Min Yoongi | Suga, Fantasy, Fluff, Human Jung Hoseok | J-Hope, Human Park Jimin (BTS), Kang Taehyun Is So Done, M/M, Magic, Magical Violence, Mild Sexual Content, One step forward two steps back the musical, Phoenix Spirit Choi Yeonjun, Phoenix Spirit Kim Taehyung, Please pray for Soobin's last fuck to give, Slow Burn, Sorcerer Choi Soobin, Sorcerer Jeon Jungkook, Sorcerer Kang Taehyun, Sorcerer Kim Namjoon | RM, Sorcerer Kim Seokjin | Jin, Sorcerer Min Yoongi | Suga, Sorcerers, Taehyun is Jungkook's son, Wizard Choi Boemgyu, Wizard Huening Kai
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 00:55:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 41,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29234886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jks_microwave/pseuds/jks_microwave
Summary: Spirits are magical creatures that bond to Sorcerers, beings that are descended from the magical gods known as Dragons. There are all types of Spirits, ranging from the weak to the supremely powerful. Of these, a Phoenix Spirit is renowned for its massive power, and its ability to revive its Sorcerer.Taehyun had thought that all Phoenix Spirits were as elegant and as calm as his father, Taehyung.That was … until he met Choi Yeonjun.
Relationships: Choi Yeonjun/Kang Taehyun
Series: The Place Where You Are [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2132295
Comments: 53
Kudos: 111





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a surprise sequel to my Sorcerer TaeKook fic, "A Door In Your Heart", but you don't need to read that one to read this one, it'll just give you some background on the world and the BTS support cast. 
> 
> My first TxT fic (I'm a very new MOA) and I couldn't choose a usual pairing, could I? Welp, strap in kids we're going on a magical adventure! 
> 
> Rating may go down, I'm still undecided. I'll warn everyone accordingly.

Growing up, Taehyun had been sure that every Phoenix Spirit was as graceful, loving, and sweet as his father, Taehyung.

Granted, Taehyung was the _only_ Phoenix Spirit that Taehyun knew, but _still._ There was no way something as powerful and as elegant as a Phoenix Spirit could be anything less than the loving being that had raised him alongside his biological father, an Omni-Sorcerer named Jungkook. The days that Taehyun spent as a young child in their family’s shop with his fathers, his uncles, their friends, and the crazy customers that frequented the establishment were memories that he knew he would treasure for the rest of his life.

Taehyun was a Sorcerer, beings whose magical abilities came directly from their bloodlines. Bloodlines that stemmed all the way from the dragons of old, at the beginning of time. Taehyun’s family in particular came from the Eternal Fire of the Red Dragon Imvaernarho, though Jungkook was a rare variant of Sorcerer that could use all five elements: Fire, Water/Ice, Earth, Darkness and Wind.

His Uncles had more traditional, singular elemental affinities. Jeon Seokjin was a powerful Fire Sorcerer and his father’s biological brother, Min Yoongi was from one of the most powerful and old magical families that had their power derived from the Eldest God of the Frozen Mountain, Torixileos, and Kim Namjoon was a notable Sorcerer and scholar with the power of the Dragon Agoshyrvor the Verdant.

Taehyun hadn’t known of any Sorcerers that had their power derived from Ouranalathra the Wind Wyrm before Seokjin married Elessaria Skywrite, a Sorceress from a very powerful family that had sought Seokjin out specifically for their daughter. It had come as quite a surprise, considering that the Jeon line had been whittled down to just Jungkook, Seokjin and Taehyun. Seokjin had been wary, insistent on giving himself time to breathe after mutually deciding that the poly relationship he’d had with Jimin and Hoseok in his 20s wasn’t quite working out the way the three of them had pictured. One well-timed pun from Elessaria to break the tension, however, and the eldest Jeon had changed his mind.

Those that came from the bloodline descended from Daurgothoth, the Creeping Doom, were outliers, outcasts in the magical community, due to the nature of the magic. There were, of course, Dark magic Sorcerers who were lawful and good, even though their magic’s nature was not. For the most part, however, those Sorcerers liked to live the stereotype. They felt like it was a ‘get out of jail free’ card, because there was very little that could counter Dark magic, but Taehyun felt it was just laziness and a crippling illness of being basic.

Taehyun was perhaps biased, but he felt that his family was filled with the best Sorcerers around. He’d seen Seokjin craft a strong shield of blazing flame that could withstand a highly pressurized geyser of water head-on, he’d seen Yoongi pull water from the Han River and summon a battalion of water horses that took out a rogue fire elemental, and he’d seen Namjoon raise giant, living trees from their deep slumber so they could transplant themselves in order to create a new forest. 

Elessaria was a very good sparring opponent for the sorcerers in the shop, her wind magic able to blow out fire, to create a wall that stopped a high-pressured water geyser, or to leave a forest barren and wind-beaten. She could also bolster Seokjin’s fire; assist with the flower’s pollen to go further than they could before when helping Namjoon, or to transport water further than Yoongi could on his own. It was helpful for Jungkook, who would always be pulled into helping his hyungs spar as he could focus on his own training.

Taehyun could clearly remember when he first met Taehyung - he was four years old, and Taehyung had come into the family’s magical supplies shop for a tarot reading from Jungkook. The shop mainly dealt in providing high-end goods to the magical community - ingredients to witches, ink and quills for wizards, etc - but Jungkook (and now, Taehyun) did tarot readings and the like for people who didn’t have any magical ability whatsoever and thought _Third Eye’s Crown_ was a psychic shop.

When little Taehyun had seen Taehyung for the first time, he looked like a gorgeous fire bird, a swirling vortex of golds, reds, whites, yellows, oranges and greens, and Taehyun had been surprised that something so big and so vibrant was in the shop. He remembered being so confused that Jungkook never mentioned it to him when he spoke about Taehyung. It seemed to be a pretty big detail to leave out.

It was years later that Taehyun realized that Jungkook hadn’t left anything out - to everyone else, Taehyung looked like a handsome young man in his 20s. Taehyun was able to see Taehyung’s true form due to (1) his affinity as a fire-element sorcerer and (2) that Taehyun’s magical energy (uncommonly large due to his father and biological Uncle’s above-average magical reserves) was constantly flowing out so he was able to see things he shouldn’t have. Things that included Taehyung’s true form, Jujak the Vermillion. Now as a young man of 20, Taehyun was in much better control of his power, and could still see human-passing Spirits in their true form,but he had to consciously do it.

As he grew older, Taehyun learned that ’Spirits’ was an umbrella term that encompassed a wide range of magical creatures that could bond with Sorcerers and both parties received a wide range of benefits from the Bond. Sorcerers received a familiar of sorts and a new depth of magical power to draw from, while the Spirit could survive for much longer on its own and draw on the Sorcerer’s power to augment their own. As there were many different kinds of spirits, and many different kinds of Sorcerers, the possibilities for bonds were endless.

There were also Perfect Links, where a Spirit and Sorcerer were a perfect match for each other, and through their bond, they could feel each other’s emotions and share power as easily as they breathed, they could even communicate telepathically. Jungkook and Taehyung shared a Perfect Link, their temperaments complementing the other, and Taehyun was biased, but he felt that they were perfect for each other. Jungkook was quiet and reserved, and Taehyung was vibrant and extroverted, but thoughtful and emotionally astute. He always seemed to know what to do when Jungkook was frazzled or too withdrawn.

“By Tasha’s right tit, Soobin, I know where the shop is!” came a loud voice, the bell ringing almost violently as the door was pushed open. “It’s in here!”

“That’s what you said the last six times!” the second voice, presumably the one named Soobin, protested.

Taehyun was snapped roughly from his trip down memory lane, and he slowly lowered his hand (where his chin rested) and blinked slowly as four young men entered the shop. All four of them were squabbling with each other, and the main issue seemed to be the first voice’s insistence that he knew where they were going. The first thing Taehyun noticed was that they were _loud_. The second thing he noticed were their hair colours: first voice’s hair colour was pink with blue streaks, Soobin had icy blue hair with pink streaks and the other two had dark brown and golden brown respectively.

First Voice turned and levelled Taehyun with a fiery stare. “You! This is _Third Eye’s Crown_ , right?”

Still processing the bizarre sight that had situated itself in his usually quiet shop, Taehyun blinked owlishly. “That’s what the sign outside says, yeah,” he replied, expression blank. Maybe he’d inherited more of Taehyung and Jungkook’s snark than his Uncles originally hoped.

The longer he looked at him, the longer Pink Hair (upgraded from First Voice) looked less like a boy and more like a fiery, bird shaped being - much like Taehyung had appeared when Taehyun first met him. But where Taehyung was elegant and controlled, Pink Hair looked like a wildfire that had been left unchecked, blue flame hungrily destroying everything in its path. However, there was something about the way the fire burned that concerned Taehyun; it was as if it was intent on burning itself out.

Pink Hair didn’t seem to catch the sass in Taehyun’s voice and spun around to point a finger at Soobin, who seemed to lose the will to live the longer this went on. Taehyun found it to be a big mood. “I told you!”

“Congratulations, it only took seven tries,” Soobin replied tiredly, rubbing his eyes. “So what’s so great about this place? Are you going to ask this guy for a tarot reading?”

One of the two brown-haired boys blinked. “I thought you didn’t believe in tarot, Yeonjun-hyung.”

“I _don’t_ ,” Pink Hair - ah, no, his name was Yeonjun - huffed, folding his arms. “And like I kept saying, _Kai_ , this is a high end magical goods shop. You can get anything you need here if you have the money for it.”

Kai scratched his cheek and looked over at the second brown-haired boy, the one with highlights that gave it a warm, caramel-hued glow. “It looks like a psychic shop to me, Beomgyu-hyung.”

Yeonjun turned his attention to Taehyun, who was still staring at them blankly. This was more excitement than the young man was expecting for a slow Sunday afternoon while the rest of the shop’s inhabitants were enjoying their day off in pairs or getting some errands done. “Look at his arm. That’s a Sorcerer’s Mark. Right? I’m right, aren’t I?”

“No, I joined a cult at a Crayola Marker Factory,” Taehyun replied, inwardly flinching a second later; he really had to watch his mouth. He was going to get himself punched in the face one day and if he was honest, he’d deserve it. “Did you guys… need something?”

Beomgyu nodded and walked forward, pulling a rolled up piece of parchment from inside his backpack. He smiled and handed it over to Taehyun, bowing slightly. “We need some supplies for our class. We’re enrolled at the Magical Studies Program at SNU. They want some pretty specific stuff in advance of the new semester starting and we’ve been having a hard time finding it all.”

Taehyun’s brows furrowed and he tucked a bit of his longish red hair behind his ear, his piercings jingling softly. He unfurled the parchment, rolling it the opposite way so it would lay flat on the counter. “Let’s hope they’re not sending you on a wild goose chase in addition for charging too much for tuition,” Taehyun muttered to himself. His issues with how costly post-secondary education was would have to wait for another time. He’d barely paid attention to his own list the University sent him, so it might be good for him to look at it _somewhat_.

**First Year - Component Pouch**

  * Brimstone 
  * Charcoal
  * Incense (Chakra Lotus, Dragon’s Blood, Bergamot, Nag Champa)
  * Herb Mixture (Anise, Aralia, Cotula, Lungwort, Tarragon)
  * Clay
  * Crystal Sphere (small)
  * Ashes of Mistletoe and Spruce
  * Vials (several, various sizes)



“Pretty fundamental stuff,” Taehyun said with a nod, pushing himself off the counter and turning around the the lengthy and tall shelves behind him. “So you guys are wizards?”

Soobin shook his head slightly. “No, not all of us. Kai and Beomgyu are, but I’m a Sorcerer and Yeonjun-hyung—”

“I’m a Phoenix Spirit,” Yeonjun said with no hesitation, causing Taehyun to nearly drop a giant jar containing mistletoe ashes. “What? You got something against Spirits?”

Taehyun had thought that all Phoenix Spirits were as elegant and as calm as his father, Taehyung.

That was … until he met Choi Yeonjun.

Taehyun turned quickly and shook his head. “No, no! It’s just… I don’t… I didn’t think…” He paused and looked between Soobin and Yeonjun. “Are you two… Bonded?”

At that, Yeonjun let out a heavy sigh and draped himself all over Soobin, who was trying desperately not to shrug the shorter man off. “I’ve been trying for _years_ but Soobin’s so _mean_ and won’t! Just because he’s a water/ice sorcerer doesn’t _mean_ anything. Maybe he’s just scared because he’s not that powerful…”

“I’m _right here_ ,” Soobin muttered, rolling his eyes.

Taehyun swiftly grabbed and set down several of the heavy jars down at once, missing how Yeonjun’s eyes widened at the display of strength as he popped the lids with deft twists of his wrists. “Sorry; I know it’s a sensitive question to ask,” he apologized, easily pulling out four patterned paper bags and began to fill them up with the requested components as he talked. “I was curious, because you don’t really see an un-bonded Phoenix Spirit with that much energy.”

Soobin raised an eyebrow as he watched Taehyun systematically fill their order, “Have you … seen another one?”

“My Father’s a Phoenix Spirit,” Taehyun replied easily, distracted by measuring the appropriate amount of mistletoe and spruce ashes, separating the baggies and labelling them neatly. “He’s bonded to my Dad, an Omni Sorcerer. He would always say that it was really difficult to be on his own without a Sorcerer, that he only lasted as long as he did without one because he was a Phoenix.” Taehyun gestured vaguely with a free hand as he held one of the giant jars in the other, easily putting it back on the shelf one-handedly.

The four young men shared a long look with each other before Yeonjun raised an eyebrow and leaned an elbow on the counter. “One of your dads is a Phoenix Spirit?” he asked, his voice remarkably soft given his earlier loudness. “What was… what’s his name?”

Taehyun blinked. “Which one?”

Yeonjun blinked back at him. “What do you mean which one?”

“I mean… he’s got two,” Taehyun replied, sheepish. “His name as a Spirit is Jujak, but his normal name is Kim Taehyung.”

“ _Jujak?!_ ” Yeonjun exclaimed, the voice of the shout enough to make Taehyun fumble with a jar, able to catch it with remarkably quick reflexes. Yeonjun pressed both palms down on the counter, almost ready to jump it if it wasn’t for common sense kicking in. “He’s… really? You’re lying!”

Taehyun snorted. “Sure, that’s me. Lying to a random, loudmouth Spirit that burst into my shop on a perfectly peaceful Sunday Afternoon for no other reason than to get my rocks off.” He returned back to filling up their order, making sure he divvied up the crystal spheres properly - Seokjin would lecture his ear off if he didn’t get it right and Taehyun did _not_ want that. “Okay, I think that’s everything. — can you guys show me your SNU IDs? I can give you a 10% discount because you’re magic students.”

Soobin was the first to react, and nodded, pulling out his wallet and setting his SNU student ID card on the counter. The other three quickly followed, with Yeonjun taking a bit longer to put his beside everyone else’s as he was staring a hole in Taehyun’s head. Taehyun leaned over with a light hum, double-checking the standard signs for a legitimate ID card before gently sliding them back towards the boys and finishing up the transactions.

“So we’ll just go one at a time,” Taehyun said, putting a bag in front of each one of the young men in front of him. “Easy peasy lemon squeezy.”

Kai grinned a little. “Do you run this shop by yourself… uh…” He paused, realizing he didn’t know Taehyun’s name. “Sorry, I didn’t catch your name earlier.” He paused and blinked again. “We didn’t even introduce ourselves! Jeez. I’m Kai, this is Beomgyu-hyung, Yeonjun-hyung and Soobin-hyung.”

Taehyun blinked back before putting a hand over his face. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” he groaned. “Jeon Taehyun. I’m … I’m Jeon Taehyun. And, um, no. This is my family’s shop. I hold down the fort on the weekends and my Uncles and Dad take care of it during the week while I’m in school. Been working here since I was four.”

Beomgyu grinned. “Well, then we know it’s really legit if you were working here underage.”

“I was scamming noonas out of their change before I even got into Kindergarten,” Taehyun confirmed proudly, laughing. “Dad would tell me that our tip jar was so overfilled that it practically paid for my tuition. — all right, it’s about $75 for everything. About the price of one textbook.” He snorted.

“A second hand textbook maybe,” Soobin muttered in agreement, but a small smirk curled his lips as he took out a couple of bills to pay first.

“Yah, _hyung_ , shouldn’t you pay for us too?” Yeonjun asked, leaning languidly against the counter, burnt orange crop top riding up a bit.

Soobin snorted. “I’m younger than you. You should be paying for all of us, since you’re the oldest, if you want to play that game.”

Taehyun smirked, raking a hand through his fiery red hair. “Man makes some good points. So, are you going to pony up the won for your dongsaengs like a good hyung?”

Yeonjun’s golden hued eyes narrowed slightly and his plush lips curled into a brief pout before he threw his head back and flicked his layered forelocks out of his eyes. “You think you’re hot shit, don’t you?”

“I mean, Fire Sorcerer,” Taehyun answered, raising his right hand and letting fire dance between his fingers as his Sorcerer’s Mark, nestled in and surrounded by a partially glimpsed sleeve of exquisitely designed tattoos, glowed slightly on his forearm. “I tend to run _hot_.”

It was interesting, seeing Yeonjun’s reactions; he was nothing like Taehyung, who would burn with the controlled elegance of the Olympic Flame. Instead he was like an out of control fire that rampaged through a forest. He wanted to see how intense Yeonjun’s reactions could get.

“Do you two need us to leave, or…?” Soobin asked, a hand on his hip.

“At least let me pay for my stuff first before you throw hands,” Beomgyu mumbled, pulling out the appropriate amount of bills, Kai following in short order. “I’m not failing the semester because Yeonjun-hyung started shit and couldn’t finish it.”

“Yah!”

Taehyun laughed and shook his head, running through the other three transactions with surprisingly minimal hiccups. “You guys are a trip,” he commented idly, handing Yeonjun his receipt. The older boy caught Taehyun’s wrist, slender fingers sliding down to pass over Taehyun’s Sorcerer Mark. “…can I help you?” he asked lowly, eyebrow raised. He could focus a bit easier of Yeonjun now, seeing his human-passing form. (Honestly, if he wasn’t such an ass, he’d be kind of cute.)

Yeonjun didn’t respond right away, golden yellow eyes scrutinizing Taehyun’s mark, easily camouflaged within elegantly designed tattoos. “I want to fight you.”

“You want to _what_.”

“I knew it!” Beomgyu sighed, glancing heavenward for guidance. “Why do you want to fight a guy you just met?”

Yeonjun hadn’t moved his gaze from Taehyun’s Sorcerer Mark, and Taehyun wondered if the Spirit was trying to memorize it. Or burn it off with his mind; he couldn’t tell with the volatile young man. “I want to see how strong he is. Just one on one, no bells, no whistles. Just straight up see who’s stronger between us.”

Taehyun raised an eyebrow. “Come by tomorrow once you’ve cooled off and see if you still wanna fight me. Here’s your receipt.”

“Fine!” Yeonjun snatched the receipt out of Taehyun’s fingers, shoved it into the paper bag and stormed out of _Third Eye’s Crown_.

Soobin sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I apologize on his behalf,” he said, bowing slightly. “He just has this _thing_ of challenging strong Sorcerers or Wizards, or anybody with any sort of magical ability. I don’t know if it’s just to assert dominance or if he’s looking for something, but it’s gotten him into trouble before.”

Kai scratched his cheek. “I think he’s trying to find a Sorcerer to bond with and nobody’s good enough.”

“He’s not winning any points the way he challenges people,” Beomgyu pointed out. He gave Taehyun a small smile. “It was nice to meet you, though. Hopefully the next time we see you, it’ll be less… energetic.”

“You’ll probably see me in class,” Taehyun said, rubbing his neck. “I’m also in the Magical Studies program at SNU.” He wasn’t sure why Jungkook was so insistent he go to University to study stuff he already knew backwards and forwards just by growing up with four Sorcerers and a Phoenix Spirit, but he figured that any job anywhere needed post-secondary education of _some_ kind. What an expensive piece of paper he’d own, the fathers of capitalism would be proud.

Kai’s eyes lit up and he nodded. “We’ll see you in class, Taehyun! Have a good Sunday!” He waved good-naturedly, heading off out of the shop with Beomgyu and Soobin, leaving Taehyun alone in the shop and back to some well-earned peace and quiet.

“What in the name of Imvaernarho’s right claw was that?” Taehyun muttered, running a hand through his hair. “I don’t think I’ve ever met a Phoenix Spirit that mouthy or unstable.” He frowned; Yeonjun’s spiritual energy was so out of control that Taehyun almost asked him if he was okay.

If his energy was running so high and so constant, it might be why Yeonjun was so testy, why he was aggressively looking for someone to bond with. Frowning to himself, Taehyun pulled over a spare notebook of his where he would write down stray thoughts and started to detail the entire encounter. He listed everything from what Yeonjun, Soobin, Kai and Beomgyu looked like, their magical affinities (Soobin), that Kai and Beomgyu were Wizards, and most importantly, Yeonjun’s spirit state and his energy fluctuations.

He drew Yeonjun’s form as he saw it, trying to be as precise as he could before his memory faded. While Taehyun was proud of how clear his memory could be, he knew that the details would fade with time; it’s just how it was with the brain. He paid extra attention to the blue flame that burned and the strange mark he saw on the right side of Yeonjun’s chest. Since he had only seen it for a few seconds, Taehyun wasn’t sure it was accurate but maybe his uncles or his parents would be able to figure it out. They were all insanely smart and talented.

But if anybody could stump them, Taehyun had a feeling that Yeonjun would be that person.

 **_Note:_ ** _Closest friend is a Water/Ice sorcerer. They haven’t formally bonded but it seems that they might have tried, at least a couple of times. There are pink flecks in Soobin’s hair, and blue flecks in Yeonjun’s hair. I’m not sure if it means anything, or if it’s just the way their hair colours are, but judging by what Yeonjun said, I’m confident they tried to bond and it didn’t work. Maybe they temporarily bond so Yeonjun is able to use Soobin’s reserves but it’s not the right match? I don’t know, though._

 **_Note 2:_ ** _Yeonjun challenges anybody with magical ability, but mainly Sorcerers. Soobin isn’t sure why he does it (he does know) and Beomgyu is more straightforward - he thinks Yeonjun needs to test anybody and everybody to make sure they’re the right one for him. It’s not working, though, and he’s using up a lot of energy._

 **_Note 3:_ ** _I think he’s aggressive because he’s running out of time. His energy is burning out too quickly and the energy flow is constant with no tap to turn it off or regulate it. He doesn’t have the deep energy reserves needed to keep going like that, even though it’s already pretty deep from what I’ve gathered. He knows he doesn’t have much time before the worst happens, so he’s fighting anybody he can as soon as he meets them so he knows right away if they’re the right fit. It’s aggressive but I see why if that’s the reason._

 ** _Note 4:_** _He’s annoying as hell though I can see why no one would bond with him_ -_-

The peace and quiet lasted for all of an hour before the door slammed open again, this time because his Uncle Seokjin kicked it open. Both his hands were full carrying bags of ingredients, and this just _would not do_. “Taehyun-ah!” he bellowed. “Come here and help your Uncles! We’re old and rickety and don’t have the vibrancy of youth anymore!”

“You can’t be that old and rickety if you have that much energy!” Taehyun called back, hopping over the counter and hurrying over to take the bags from Seokjin. He nodded and bowed respectfully, however, when he saw Yoongi, Namjoon, and his father Jungkook come in after Seokjin. “Welcome back.”

Yoongi glanced around. “Looks like the shop’s still in one piece.”

“Uncle, I’m wounded,” Taehyun said with a sad look on his face, trying to convince Namjoon to hand over the bags; there was no way he was going to make more than one trip. This was a one trip only household and Taehyun had been working out exclusively to carry as many supplies at one time as he could. Sometimes the goals one had to be low on the ground so he could pick it up _during one trip only_. “You know I’d be able to take care of the shop. I’m not Uncle Jin.”

“The audacity!” Seokjin exclaimed, ruffling Taehyun’s fire red hair roughly. “I raised you! I raised your father! And this is the respect that you show me?!”

Yoongi snickered. “Calm down before you throw out your back.”

“Are you just adding oil to the fire?” Namjoon asked, amused as he ducked Seokjin’s wildly flailing arms. “It’s not nice to be so mean to the elderly. He’s a married man.”

Jungkook smirked. “We should send his wife another gift basket.”

“I’m disowning all of you!” Seokjin threatened. “And don’t! The last time you did that, Elessaria wouldn’t stop bringing it up for like a month!”

“Cool, that makes about an even 100 times now,” Taehyun said, giving Yoongi a high-five. “Century club, baby.”

Yoongi snickered as he returned the high five. “We’ll get you a t-shirt. You hit the mark a little slower than your old man did; Jungkook had 100 disownments as soon as he turned 18.”

Snickering, Jungkook blew a kiss to his older brother. “We’re a family of over-achievers. Minus Jin-hyung, I guess.”

“A pox on all your houses!”

“We live in the same house, hyung. Magic makes it bigger on the inside, all that jazz?”

“A pox on your very specific rooms!”

Jungkook smiled at Taehyun as he set his bags down on the counter with a soft grunt. “Thank you for looking after the shop, bun. Anything happen?”

Taehyun shrugged as he took the bags from Yoongi, Seokjin and Namjoon, joining his father at the counter. “I got challenged to a fight by a Phoenix Spirit, that’s about it though.”

“You _what_.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taehyun and his family try to unravel the mystery that is Yeonjun. Meanwhile, Yeonjun makes a startling confession to Soobin.

Jungkook raised an eyebrow and leaned against the counter while he turned to face his son. “What do you _mean_ that you got challenged to a fight by a Phoenix Spirit?”

“I… don’t know how much clearer I can be, Dad,” Taehyun replied, rubbing his neck. “A Phoenix Spirit came in here with two Wizards and a Water/Ice Sorcerer and he challenged me to a fight. I told him to come by tomorrow once he’d cooled off and see if he still wanted to throw down.”

Namjoon raised an eyebrow. “And you didn’t do anything to escalate the situation, did you?”

Taehyun smiled at him sheepishly. “I might have egged him on a little bit, but it was nothing crazy! Just some gentle teasing. I didn’t think he’d challenge me to a _fight_. His friends said he just has this tendency to challenge people to see how strong they were. Maybe he hasn’t seen many Fire Sorcerers and wanted to see how strong he was; I don’t know. I didn’t think I’d ever meet a Phoenix Spirit who was so… _loud_.” He looked over at Jungkook. “Father isn’t like that.”

“Oh, he was louder when he was younger but he’s mellowed out now. But I can’t say I ever heard of Tae throwing the gauntlet down to strangers, no,” Jungkook agreed, running a hand through his longish black hair. “Even when it came down to fighting his old Sorcerer in a Duel, he only did it because they challenged me directly for him and he wasn’t about to be some damsel in distress.”

Yoongi raised an eyebrow as he rotated his shoulder, working out a kink. “It’s not uncommon for Sorcerers to challenge Spirits for the right to Bond, but it’s the first time I’ve heard of a Spirit doing that, a Phoenix even less so. — You said he was with a Water/Ice sorcerer and two wizards?”

Taehyun nodded. “They were all enrolled in the Magical Studies program at SNU. They came in here looking for components for their classes.”

“Wait, the Phoenix Spirit was enrolled too?” Jungkook asked, blinking.

“Yeah, I was surprised too. But, I guess, everybody needs an education?” Taehyun replied with a shrug. “I wrote everything down that I could remember about it.” He handed his notebook over to Jungkook, opened to where he’d started writing about the four young men he’d met earlier in the day.

Jungkook took the book, the other three men crowding around the younger man, and Taehyun watched as four of the most important people in his life read his very hastily written notes about something he wasn’t totally sure wasn’t a fever dream. “You could see his true form, Bun?” Jungkook asked, glancing over at him as Namjoon took the notebook. “Were you trying to see it?”

Taehyun shook his head. “No, I know better now. I could see it and only that form because his power was running full tilt. Once I got used to it, I could see his human-passing form. Looks like a normal guy to me, minus the pink hair.” Taehyung shrugged. “But he got less uppity when he learned Father’s Spirit name.”

“He recognized the name Jujak?” Jungkook rubbed his chin with his tattooed hand, his dual coloured eyes glazing over as he thought about that. “I guess it’s not too surprising, it’s likely Phoenix Spirits know each other, but it’s something we’d need to ask Taehyung.”

Yoongi looked over at Taehyun, waving his hand to catch the boy’s attention. “What’s this about him and the Water/Ice sorcerer having been temporarily bonded a lot? Did they say anything about it?”

The young fire sorcerer shook his head. “No, I’d asked if they were formally bonded and Soobin said they weren’t. But … I don’t know, Uncle, call it a hunch? Their hair looks like inversions of the other’s and there was this, like… residual cross-energy between the two of them? They’re either dating or they bonded temporarily a bunch of times, I don’t know. But based on how his energy is going full tilt without being replenished, I think it’s the latter. I don’t think it’s worked, though, and that’s why they haven’t bonded in a while.”

Namjoon made a soft sound and rubbed the back of his neck. “I would tend to agree,” he started, flipping back and forth between a couple of pages, re-reading Taehyun’s neatly handwritten notes. “With a Water/Ice Sorcerer, I would say that he would inadvertently harm the Phoenix Spirit rather than help, just by simple elemental opposition if they bonded. — This is quite a lot of information just based on a brief meeting; you must have sensed quite a lot of energy from this Phoenix Spirit … Yeonjun?”

“He was burning off energy like nobody’s business,” Taehyun confirmed. “I was honestly kind of worried he’d literally burn himself out but I was so thrown off by the whole thing I didn’t know what to say.”

Yoongi huffed and ran a hand through his hair. “Honestly, with how fucking whacky magic can be, I wouldn’t be surprised if he wasn’t a pure Phoenix Spirit but some kind of hybrid. There are a lot of practitioners pushing the boundaries of what’s ethical.”

“The Gods too,” Jungkook pointed out. “We might not have seen them in a long time, but that doesn’t mean that they’re not still actively screwing around with the foundations of magic.”

Namjoon rubbed his forehead. “That’s true, unfortunately. But you’re sure that his fire was burning blue, Taehyun?”

“Positive,” Taehyun confirmed again. “I couldn’t mistake it, Uncle.”

“A Phoenix with blue fire is not something I’ve heard of,” Seokjin said, raising an eyebrow. “You’ll have to ask Taehyung about that too when he comes home.”

“Ask me about what?” came a deep voice as the door to the shop opened, the bell jingling softly.

Taehyun brightened as he saw his father, Kim Taehyung, step through the threshold and into the shop proper, dressed in a finely pressed suit. “Welcome home, father!” he greeted. “How did the meeting go?”

Taehyung smiled, his lips curling into his signature boxy smile. His dual coloured eyes - one brown, one orangey red like Jungkook’s - bright with fondness. When Taehyung had first met Jungkook, the Spirit was working with his best friend Jimin and his then-boyfriend (now husband) Hoseok at a games company. 16 years later, Taehyung was now Director of the Art & Game Design department, his innovative ideas bringing _PERSONA GAMES_ into unprecedented levels of success.

“Pretty good. We finished the deal with Studio Lily in Japan to turn _Kaiju Prince_ to an anime next year,” he said, setting his briefcase down on the tarot-reading table, loosening his tie. 

“—Really?” Taehyun said, perking up despite himself. “I know you were worried about the meeting today since they called it for a Sunday…”

 _Kaiju Prince_ was a game that was close to his heart; when he first met Taehyung, the Spirit had played a little kid version of it with Taehyun, and even gifted him the prototype deck afterwards. Taehyun had kept it since, and as he got older, took the appropriate steps to protect the cards; they now rested in a binder, in multiple card sleeve pages in a zipped up binder. It was one of his most prized possessions, the first thing he’d ever gotten from the Spirit that would become his father.

The Spirit nodded, running a hand through his curly black hair. “It’s thankfully done and sealed, so that’s a load off my mind for a while. — but what were you all talking about? You said you wanted to ask me something?” He pressed a soft kiss to Jungkook’s temple.

“Our son got himself challenged to a fight by a baby Phoenix Spirit,” Jungkook replied, snickering. “We were wondering if you knew of one that burned with blue fire.”

Taehyung blinked slowly and turned to Taehyun, who smiled sheepishly at his father. “You were challenged to a fight by a Phoenix Spirit? What did you say to them?” he asked, brows furrowing.

“Why do you assume that _I’m_ the one that said something?” Taehyun pouted.

Raising a finely groomed eyebrow, Taehyung crossed his arms and affixed his son with a firm stare. “Did you?” he asked again, in a tone that implied that yes, yes he did assume that Taehyun was the one that started it.

Taehyun huffed and ran a hand through his hair. “No, I didn’t! He just saw my Sorcerer’s Mark and said he wanted to throw down; his friends kept apologizing, saying that he was always challenging anybody with magical abilities as soon as he met them. I told him to come back tomorrow after he’d cooled off so he could like… walk it off. I mean, I teased him a little but I didn’t say hey, Yeonjun, these hands are rated E for Everyone let’s rumble.”

“I would hope that I taught you better than to start a fight with that,” Yoongi snorted.

“He shouldn’t be fighting at all,” Namjoon pointed out.

Jungkook plucked the book out of Namjoon’s hands and gestured for Taehyung to come over, showing him Taehyun’s notes on the encounter. “He should know how,” Jungkook said as he opened the notebook to the appropriate page. “Duels are more common now and he shouldn’t wing it like I did. That’s why we’ve been sparring with each other. Anybody could challenge him.”

“Especially since _somebody_ defeated Adeneus of the Creeping Doom,” Yoongi pointed out with a smirk. “And got famous from it.”

Jungkook rolled his eyes. “If you want an autograph, hyung, it’s ₩43,000.”

“Too bad the Magical Studies program won’t teach me that; it might actually be useful,” Taehyun muttered, watching Taehyung carefully as the Spirit leaned over Jungkook’s shoulder, dual-coloured eyes reading his son’s notes curiously. “I can’t wait to learn how to mix components together, sure needed to spend hundreds of thousands of won on a fancy piece of paper.”

Namjoon sighed. “You’ve really taken Yoongi’s anti-school message to heart,” he lamented.

“It’s a scam and the kids should know,” Yoongi reiterated, giving Taehyun a fist-bump that the younger Sorcerer returned happily.

Taehyung tilted his head slightly as he reread Taehyun’s notes, his eyes narrowing slightly once he’d studied the sketch of Yeonjun’s spirit form. “Are you sure this is what the kid looked like, Bun?” he asked, his voice soft.

“Yes,” Taehyun confirmed with a clear nod. “I couldn’t see what he actually looked like for a while because his energy was just… it was like if someone turned the tap on full blast and kept it on. Every time he touched my Mark I could see his human form.”

“…I do know this kid,” Taehyung started carefully. “Well, it’s more accurate to say I know _of_ him; his name is Igniria. This symbol on his chest is from Tiamat, the Mother of all Dragons… her fire burns bright, and it burns _hard_. I had heard that her fire created a Phoenix, but…” Taehyung shook his head. “Taehyun’s right; he needs to bond to a Sorcerer and _fast_ ; he can’t control his own power and it’s not his fault. Tiamat’s flame wasn’t meant to be the basis for a Phoenix’s power.”

Namjoon frowned. “But it still happened.”

Taehyung nodded, his eyes not leaving the sketch of Yeonjun. “Tiamat is a fickle creature, she never did like to play the same games the Elder Draconic Gods did. I wouldn’t be surprised if she did this on purpose just to see if she could.” He looked over at Taehyun. “You definitely shouldn’t fight this Spirit, Taehyun. He needs his power for as long as possible until he finds a Sorcerer to bond with.”

“I wasn’t really going to fight him,” Taehyun protested. “But… should I… should I offer to bond with him to help him? If he keeps going like this, he’s going to burn out literally and figuratively.”

The Phoenix Spirit sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Ordinarily I would caution against it, especially since you don’t know this boy very well, but… you would have the highest chance out of anyone to help him. — You said he was coming back tomorrow afternoon?”

Taehyun rubbed his neck. “I mean, I told him to come here tomorrow once he’d cooled off but I don’t know if he’d actually come.”

“Mm… the next time you see him, call me. I want to talk to him,” Taehyung instructed. “With the animated show deal done, I have a bit more freedom now.”

Surprised, Taehyun nodded. “You got it.”

Jungkook smiled and ruffled his hair. “I can’t leave you alone for a second, can I, Bun? We go and run errands and you end up getting yourself challenged by a rare Phoenix Spirit. What’s next, are you going to find one of the Old Gods and say they owe you a million won?”

Taehyun smiled sheepishly. “At this point, it seems to be a Jeon family tradition to find trouble. Remember when Uncle Jin burned Miss. Elessaria’s wedding dress?”

Seokjin groaned and put his hands to his face. “And I told you never to bring that up again! Elessaria keeps clowning me for it!”

“As well she should,” Yoongi snickered. “What kind of excuse was ‘I was testing to make sure it was fire proof’?”

“He wanted to show off,” Namjoon replied with a laugh.

“I hate all of you. You’re all disowned,” Seokjin muttered, folding his arms. “No respect even though I practically raised 2 out of the 4 of you!”

Taehyun smiled and gave his Uncle a gentle pat on the shoulder. “I’ll help you with dinner, Uncle. Wanna show me how to make that crazy French recipe?” Seokjin’s eyes brightened and he nodded, grabbing his nephew’s wrist and pulling him into the Shop’s residential section.

“Bless my son,” Jungkook said with a laugh.

~ * ~

Yeonjun grimaced and sighed as Soobin poured boiling hot water on him while in the small tub in their shared apartment, clad only in a pair of swim shorts. It wasn’t the funnest method of bringing his temperature up, but the only way that either of them had found to do so was this. “We need to find you a better Sorcerer to bond with,” Soobin sighed as he sat down on the covered toilet. “This is working less and less well each time.”

“I know,” Yeonjun hissed, trying to savour the brief flash of warmth from the boiling water. It was gone too soon, however, and he soon found himself as cold as he had been before. “But it’s not as easy as saying that. That fucking… ugh, Tiamat made it so hard with her stupid freaking _fire_. It should be a Fire Sorcerer but they’re all so _lame_. They need to be able to handle me and none of them _can!_ ” He growled and slapped at the water in frustration. “If she wanted to fuck with the Old Ones, she should have left me the hell out of it!”

Soobin sighed and raked a hand through his hair. “You were fine when we left that psychic shop; it must have something to do with the magical energies there,” he surmised. “Why don’t we go back there and talk to that Fire Sorcerer, Taehyun?” Yeonjun frowned and looked away, staring at the wall. “I know you don’t like him, but I think he’s—”

“Soobin.”

“No, listen to me for once! I think that Taehyun might be able to help —”

“ _Soobin_.”

“What?!”

“…He’s my Sorcerer,” Yeonjun said, turning his golden eyed gaze to the Water/Ice Sorcerer as a frown creased his plush lips.

Soobin stared at him, wondering if he heard the Spirit correctly. “Can you say that in my good ear?” he asked incredulously, pointing at the side of his head. “Did you just say that Taehyun is your Sorcerer? The one that you _want_ to bond with?”

In response, the Spirit snorted and ran a hand through his damp hair, the water now lukewarm. “The one I _need_ to bond with,” Yeonjun clarified, sucking on his teeth. “The second I felt his Sorcerer’s Mark, I knew it. Damn it. Why does he have to be such an asshole?”

The Water/Ice Sorcerer blinked slowly before heavily sighing and rubbing his forehead. “Why don’t you just talk to him normally instead of insisting on fighting him? You don’t have the energy for a full fight and if Taehyun really was raised by a Phoenix Spirit he’s going to know how to fight you, unlike the others.”

Yeonjun grunted and pushed himself out of the tub, water sloshing messily around his slender legs. The Spirit looked down at his chest, where the Mark of Tiamat lay branded on his left pectoral in shimmering navy. He stumbled, bracing his arm on the tiled wall and slipped, prompting Soobin to shoot out of his seat and catch him before he concussed himself. “Shit…”

Soobin frowned as he helped Yeonjun out of the tub. “We have to talk to Taehyun first thing tomorrow; you’re going to literally burn yourself out if we wait any longer.”

“I don’t want to.”

“ _Yeonjun-hyung_.”

“ _Soobin_.”

The younger out of the two flicked Yeonjun’s forehead once he’d been wrapped in a fluffy towel. “Get yourself dressed and go to bed. You’re going to be cranky as hell tomorrow morning and I don’t want to deal with it.”

“Can I sleep in your bed tonight?”

“No.”

“Ugh, why are you such a prude?”

“I’m not a prude! You’re too clingy.”

Yeonjun huffed. “I bet Beomgyu and Kai would let me cuddle with them.”

Soobin rolled his eyes. “Go ask them, then.”

Groaning loudly, Yeonjun threw his head back and stomped off towards his bed, throwing the towel off with a grand gesture and changed into a loose tank top and a baggy pair of shorts. He flopped back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. “I can’t believe I finally found them,” he muttered, eyes narrowing. “I can’t believe he’s such a sarcastic prick.”

Sitting down gently on his own bed, Soobin ran a hand through his hair. “Would it kill you to just try and be friends with the guy? If he’s really your Sorcerer, you should at least give diplomacy a shot.”

“Do you ever get tired of being a total wet blanket?”

“No.”

Yeonjun grumbled and raked a hand through his hair. “I really want to fight him, though.”

Soobin rolled his eyes. “You don’t have enough energy to get out of a tub, what makes you think you can fight a Fire Sorcerer right now? Especially one that’s been training with his magic since birth? I don’t know if you caught it, but he said he grew up in that magical supplies shop with a Phoenix Spirit and an Omni Sorcerer for parents, plus three other Sorcerers. He’s got to be very strong, strong enough to take you on.”

“That’s why I wanna fight him!” Yeonjun protested. “When am I going to get this chance again to fight them one-on-one?”

“Can’t you just fight him after you’ve bonded? Plenty of Spirits spar with their Sorcerers,” Soobin pointed out. “You’re … Yeonjun-hyung, you’re running out of time. You don’t really… have the option of waiting this out for him to get you to fight him.”

The Spirit’s eyes narrowed and he turned his head away, absently rubbing the Mark on his chest. “I don’t know why it can’t be you,” he mumbled softly. “I like you and you’re a damn good Sorcerer. Why can’t it work?”

Soobin’s icy blue eyes softened and he moved from his spot on his bed to sit beside Yeonjun, placing a hand on his shoulder. “I wish it was me too,” he admitted. “But it’s not and if we keep trying to bond, it’s going to hurt you worse than if we hadn’t. We’re just not compatible like that.”

Suddenly, Yeonjun sat up and looked at him. “We could make it work! We … figured everything else out, and you were the one that saved me! Soobin, it could—” the Spirit frowned as the Sorcerer placed a finger on his plush lips. “Soobin?”

“I’ll help you however I can but we _can’t_ bond again,” Soobin answered firmly. “If we do it again, it’ll kill you. I _drain_ your energy, I don’t add to it… and you mean too much for me to keep hurting you like that.”

The silence stretched uncomfortably and Yeonjun’s jaw clenched tightly before he looked away, the frown deepening on his lips. “I don’t know what to do, Soobin,” he admitted quietly, his voice almost inaudible. “It’s getting worse and I feel like I’m about to burst every time I breathe.”

Frowning, Soobin picked up a discarded hoodie and draped it around Yeonjun’s sloped shoulders. “You need to talk to Jeon Taehyun and you two need to bond. How we get there is a whole other problem, but that’s what you need to do.”

“I hate it when you’re right.”

“It explains why you’re in such a foul mood all the time,” Soobin teased gently. At Yeonjun’s pout, Soobin took out his smartphone. “I’m going to call the shop and you’re going to talk to him about this. You can’t be a brat about it. You’re older.”

Yeonjun side-eyed him. “You wouldn’t.” Soobin raised his eyebrows, and pressed the call button, waiting until it picked up before he put it on speaker. “Choi Soobin!”

“Thank you for calling _Third Eye’s Crown_ , this is Taehyun,” came a bored sounding voice over the other end of the line. “If this is about a tarot reading you had, we apologize but the heart of the cards never lie, that’s what my great grandfather Yugi Moto said.”

Soobin blinked and looked down at the phone. “Taehyun? This is Choi Soobin, I came to your shop earlier today?”

There was a long pause, while, presumably, Taehyun processed the statement. “Oh, the Water/Ice Sorcerer. Yeah, sorry about that. I’ve been doing nothing but inventory for the last two hours and I think my last brain cell threw in the towel. What’s up? — was something wrong with the components you bought?”

“Yah, Taehyun-ah! I told you to measure those crystal spheres properly!” came a loud shout from the background.

“I _did_ measure them properly, Uncle!” Taehyun protested. “Never mind that, they’re _spheres_ ; how do you even mis-measure them?”

“Your father did!”

“Oh, I did _not_. You lost one and you blamed on me!”

“Is no one going to clarify that you weigh the spheres not measure them?”

“Don’t even try and explain that to the Jeons, Namjoon-ah.”

Soobin blinked slowly and shared a long look with Yeonjun. “No, it’s not about the components; everything’s fine with those. I wanted to ask you something about Yeonjun-hyung, if that’s okay.”

There was a pause and the sound of shifting on the other end of the line. “I have you on speaker,” Taehyun clarified. “What’s up?”

“I wanted to ask you if _you_ were bonded to a Spirit,” Soobin started, maintaining eye contact with Yeonjun. “You seemed to know a lot about them.”

“No, I’m not bonded with one,” Taehyun answered easily. “But my father’s a Phoenix Spirit so I learned a lot about Spirits from him. — Hey, about your friend. Is he okay?”

Soobin’s brows furrowed. “Why do you ask?”

“Sorry, this is probably out of line, but I got the sense that his energy’s running too high and can’t be turned off,” Taehyun explained. “I saw his real form and I usually can’t do that unless—”

“You _what?!_ ” Yeonjun exploded, grabbing the phone from Soobin. “You saw it?!” His hackles were raised, feeling _exposed_ ; no one outside of Soobin had ever seen his true form. He hated it; hated everything it stood for, what it looked like, how much he looked like Tiamat. “I’m coming down there and I’m fighting you tomorrow!”

Taehyun groaned. “No! I’m not fighting you. I’m sorry I saw it but you’re burning too hot and if you don’t get some of that energy back, you’re in big trouble.”

“Don’t act like you’re so much better than me! I’ll show you just how much better I am in a duel! I’m challenging you!”

“And I’m declining! You’re going to hurt yourself!”

As the line went dead, Soobin sighed and rubbed his eyes with one hand as he took the phone back with his other hand. “Way to go.”

“He’s an asshole.”

“You’re not much better.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> do you think I should add a tag that says "contains extreme amounts of bickering" or nah lmao


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the first day of class and Taehyun gets challenged to a duel. 
> 
> Great.

Taehyun sighed and rubbed his forehead as he sat in the lecture hall, his thermos filled with coffee strong enough to wake the dead. He picked the seat at the back and in the corner, resting his head against the wall as he stared blearily ahead. His phone pinged, and Taehyun’s lips curled into a faint smile as he saw it was two texts: one from Jungkook and one from Taehyung, wishing him good luck on his first day of University. Quietly, Taehyun picked up his phone, sent off a quick thank you, and set his phone to silent, slipping it back into his backpack.

As the young Fire Sorcerer was fighting with the stubborn clasp on his backpack, he heard four simultaneous sounds of backpacks hitting the floor and bodies sitting down and froze. No. He chose this spot so no one would sit next to him and he could zone out in class in peace. Slowly, Taehyun raised his head and saw that Yeonjun, Soobin, Kai and Beomgyu were sitting in a straight-line right beside him. Kai waved brightly, while Soobin and Beomgyu inclined their heads respectfully.

Yeonjun, on the other hand, was glaring daggers into his skull.

Reclining back into his seat, Taehyun bowed respectfully in greeting. “Morning,” he greeted finally, ignoring Yeonjun’s murderous stare.

“I was beginning to think we wouldn’t find you,” Kai was saying, smiling. “But then Beomgyu-hyung saw this patch of fire red hair in the corner and we were like, yep, that’s gotta be Taehyun-ssi.”

Taehyun lightly scratched his nose. “You don’t need to be that formal, you can call me hyung if you want,” he said. “And damn this hair. I wish I could dye it but my magic burns away the dye every single goddamn time. When I turned 10, when my Sorcerer Mark was supposed to appear, it just flash banged into fire-engine red. It’s been a pain in my ass ever since.”

“When your Mark was _supposed_ to appear?” Soobin asked, raising an eyebrow. “Didn’t it appear when you turned ten?”

“No, it appeared when I was four,” Taehyun replied with a sigh. “Dad liked to joke that we were a family of overachievers; his mark showed up when he was six, I think. Come to think of it, it showed up after I met Father; maybe that had something to do with it.” Finally, he turned and looked at Yeonjun. “What?”

Yeonjun narrowed his golden hued eyes. “You saw my real form.”

Confused, Taehyun nodded. “Yeah, that’s how I knew you were expending too much energy. I’m sensitive to it because of my family’s history; I wasn’t prying or anything. I know many Spirits only show their real form to their Sorcerer or those close to them. — If you’re worried I’m gonna tell someone, I’m not.”

“You don’t get to take the high ground on this,” Yeonjun hissed. “I know it’s disgusting and weird, you don’t need to break your back trying to stretch and be polite, okay? Just—”

“Choi Yeonjun,” came a voice, and if possible, Yeonjun’s expression darkened further as a Sorcerer approached them. “I finally found you again. So, when are we going to do this?”

Yeonjun raised an eyebrow. “Do what, Cho Daesung? You can’t possibly mean _bond_ with you; I beat you in five minutes; there’s no point in bonding with someone who can’t even cast a fireball to save their life.”

Daesung’s eyes narrowed and he pressed his hands down on Yeonjun’s desk. “You have no idea how lucky you would be to bond with someone from the Cho family, Spirit. Do you really think that you’re going to be able to survive for much longer with a mouth like that?” He reached out and grabbed Yeonjun’s right wrist, squeezing tightly. “I’m the best chance you’ve got.”

“Let go,” Yeonjun warned. “I’m not above burning you to a crisp, Cho.”

The Fire Sorcerer smirked and tightened his grip. “I, Cho Daesung, from the Cho Family and descended from the Eternal Fire of the Dragon Imvaernarho, do bond with you, Igniria of the flame of T—”

“—Hey, I didn’t pay hundreds of thousands of won to listen to your dumb ass try to forcibly bond with a Spirit,” Taehyun interrupted, annoyed, as he levelled the other Sorcerer with an unimpressed stare. “You know the High Council’s going to be on your ass if you forced a Spirit to bond with you against their will. Are Mommy and Daddy going to be happy to hear that their baby boy got his Gucci butt thrown in lock-up because he didn’t understand consent?”

Daesung’s eyes narrowed and he turned his ire to Taehyun, releasing Yeonjun’s wrist where a bonding mark had begun to press itself into his skin. “Who the hell are you?”

“Jeon Taehyun,” the younger man answered, taking a sip from his thermos. “Not that it matters.”

“That’s something we can agree on,” Daesung snorted. “Why are you butting into my business, Jeon? This is between me and Igniria.”

Taehyun rolled his eyes and took another sip from his thermos. “He said no. You can’t force him to bond with you otherwise you’re getting your ass handed to you by the Council. It’s pretty much settled, isn’t it? Spirits have protected autonomy.”

Daesung growled and pointed a finger at Taehyun, who raised an eyebrow in response. “Jeon Taehyun!” He said suddenly, loudly, gathering the attention of everyone in the lecture hall. “I, Cho Daesung of the Cho family, from the Eternal Fire of the Dragon Imvaernarho challenge you to a Duel!”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Taehyun muttered, setting his thermos down on his desk. “Why the hell would I duel you?”

“For _him_.” Daesung jerked his thumb towards Yeonjun. “Winner bonds with him.”

Taehyun snorted and shook his head. “I’m not duelling you for him. He’s got the right to make his own choice of who he bonds with. But if you want to fight me so bad to assuage your fragile ego, the answer’s no.”

Pride wounded as he heard the class begin to snicker, Daesung turned to the professor, who had been watching with mild annoyance. “Professor! I’ve challenged Jeon to a duel! I’m invoking the High Council to preside over it!”

“ _What!?_ ” Taehyun hissed. “You lunatic—”

The Professor, to Taehyun’s intense irritation and utter lack of surprise, nodded. “I will notify the Council. Use the Duelling Arena in Auditorium 310. I expect to see you there, Mr. Jeon; to skip out on an official duel is going to be something that you do not want on your record.”

Taehyun grumbled and pushed himself to his feet, irritably pulling his backpack’s straps over his shoulders and glaring at Daesung. “If I fail this class because you’re a complete tool bag, I’m going to be so pissed.”

As the younger Fire Sorcerer left, Soobin, Kai, Beomgyu and Yeonjun got to their feet. “Per the Rules, we’re his support,” Soobin said quickly, nodding to the Professor before they followed Taehyun out towards Auditorium 310. “Taehyun! Are you going to be all right? Cho is—”

Taehyun grunted as he threw his backpack to the side corner, taking a big gulp from his thermos before he closed it and slipped it into the pocket on the backpack’s side. “I can’t _believe_ this,” Taehyun muttered, angrily closing up his backpack and making everything was locked and secure, casting a protective spell over his belongings. “First day, _first day_ , and some jackass wants to _duel me_. Father’s going to have my ass for this.”

Kai crouched down beside him. “Are you gonna be okay? Cho comes from one of the oldest families in magic. Have you ever been in a duel before?”

“I spar with my family all the time,” Taehyun answered, yanking off his jacket and revealing his tattooed right arm - he had a beautiful sleeve of tattoos both magical and non, with his Sorcerer’s Mark nestled in the midst of a black flame with his family’s name written in Hangul. “Ever since Dad and Father had to fight Father’s old Sorcerer unexpectedly, the whole family’s been practicing duelling so we don’t get caught flatfooted again.” He cracked his neck and took off his toque, tossing it to the side and on top of his jacket. “They told me never to accept a duel unless I had to.”

Soobin nodded slowly and watched as Taehyun got to the centre of the duelling arena. “Be careful.”

“Yeonjun-ssi,” Taehyun started, staring ahead as Daesung broke away from his fan club and got into position, “I don’t need to tell you this, but keep an eye out; this asshole might try and force-bond with you anyway while this is going on.”

Yeonjun’s eyes narrowed. “I _know_. I didn’t need you to save me. You didn’t need to duel this jack off for me to make yourself look good.”

“I’m not duelling this asshat for _you_ ,” Taehyun snapped back. “He’s forcing it.” He looked over at Daesung. “Are you ready? This is just 1v1, I’m not wagering the Spirit on this.”

“Fine! But you _have_ to wager _something_ ,” Daesung pointed out.

Taehyun smirked. “Buy me lunch for the semester - whatever I want. If you win, I’ll do your homework for an entire semester.”

Daesung’s eyes widened and a smirk curled his lips. “Deal.” He gestured with a nod of his head to a High Council representative that was standing nearby, dressed in the official robes of the Council and holding a clipboard with a piece of parchment clipped to it. “Better put on a good show, Jeon.”

“…Can we start now?” Taehyun asked the Representative. “I have class to get back to.”

The Representative of the High Council of Sorcerers, the governing body of their Community, nodded firmly. “The Duel between Cho Daesung of the Cho Family and Jeon Taehyun of the Jeon Family, both from the sacred bloodline of Imvaernarho will now commence for the terms discussed - both unrelated to the Spirit Igniria. This will not be to the death, but use every means at your disposal to win the duel. If you seriously harm your opponent after they have surrendered, you will face stiff penalties. Begin.”

As soon as the word ‘begin’ left the Representative’s lips, Taehyun clapped his hands together and began to chant an incantation, his Sorcerer’s Mark glowing brightly until he was suddenly enveloped in thick ribbons of fire that curled around every inch of his body. The light from the magical fire burst in a 30 foot radius, causing many of the onlookers - and there were many from the various levels of the program - to shield their eyes until the light dimmed to a more manageable brightness. The ribbons curled tightly around Taehyun’s slender frame, swirling particularly strongly around his Mark. He was cloaked in fire, and now dressed in the formal robes of his Clan. His red hair was slicked back, and the earrings that lined his ears were now ornate with shining gold and sparkling rubies.

“ _Investiture of Flame_ ,” a Sorcerer with red hair said from beside Soobin. “That’s a high level spell, how does a first year know that?”

“Didn’t you know, Hongjoong-hyung?” another Sorcerer, this one with blond hair asked as his Fox Spirit Wooyoung hung off his shoulder, “the redhead’s a _Jeon_. You know the story of how an Omni Sorcerer named Jeon Jungkook fought Adeneus of the Creeping Doom and sent him to prison? That’s his kid, Taehyun.”

Hongjoong turned and regarded his friend with wide eyes. “Yeosang, you’re serious?”

A young man with dark hair huffed, his cat-like eyes narrowing as he watched. “Adeneus was an idiot. He gave Dark Magic Sorcerers a bad name with his basic-ass shit. How the hell you fumble having a Spirit like Jujak the Vermilion is beyond me.”

“Still, someone beating Adeneus isn’t something to sneeze at, San,” a tall, slender man with icy blue eyes replied, glancing over at the others. “There’s a reason why he was given one of the more harsher sentences after the duel.”

“Sneezing at Adeneus is the only good thing to do with him, Seonghwa-hyung,” San muttered.

“I wish you’d all quit talking so I could watch this in peace,” the youngest out of the lot muttered, shaking his head. “I’ve never seen a duel before.”

Hongjoong smirked. “You could always just challenge me, Jongho.”

“No thanks.”

Yeonjun had to agree with Jongho; he wished that the peanut gallery would cram it so he could focus on the duel. Taehyun was smart to cloak himself in fire to nullify the effect of Daesung’s magic, but it seemed the Fire Sorcerer wasn’t content with staying with a passive, defence based strategy. No, Taehyun was sly and he was _strong_. Yeonjun watched as the Fire Sorcerer sent a line of tall fire hurtling straight towards Daesung, using it as a diversion - who the fuck uses _Aganazzar's Scorcher_ as a _diversion?_ \- in order to place a tiny yellow bead on Daesung’s clothing as he caught the other Sorcerer flatfooted. He knocked Daesung high into the air with a burst from a deftly cast _Chromatic Orb_ , watching as the older Fire Sorcerer struggled to catch himself.

Taehyun smirked as the orb crackled with fire once Daesung landed on his ass. Suddenly, the younger Fire Sorcerer squeezed his right hand into a fist and extinguished the fire, only to _explode_ it mere seconds later with a dazzling display of colours. Daesung yowled, scratching at his face to try and dissipate the blinding colours that obscured his vision. The smirk on the youngest Jeon’s face only widened as he rushed forward once Daesung’s vision cleared, psyching the older Sorcerer out as he blew past him in a flash of fire, and snapped his fingers.

The crowd was confused until the little glowing bead on Daesung’s chest began to roar lowly until it exploded into a burst of flame, causing him to fall to his knees with a surprised groan before collapsing into unconsciousness. Taehyun turned around and folded his arms, remaining six feet away from Daesung while the Representative stepped foot onto the battlefield and checked the young Sorcerer. Soon, the Representative got to his feet and nodded to two of his aides, who hurried over and used their magic to lift the Cho boy onto a stretcher.

“The winner of the duel is Jeon Taehyun,” the Representative said, nodding once. “Mr. Cho will be informed that he is to uphold his end of the duel’s terms. Your family will also be notified of the duel and the result, Mr. Jeon.”

Taehyun rubbed his neck. “Do you mind adding in that this wasn’t my fault and I didn’t start it?” he asked sheepishly.

The Representative looked unimpressed but nodded. “Yes, they will be advised that you accepted the challenge when your hand was forced.”

“Thank you,” Taehyun said in relief, bowing deeply. He looked at his watch and hurried over to his stuff, quickly throwing on his coat and thin toque. “If I hurry, I can make it back to class in time,” he muttered. 

“Hey, wait for us, Taehyun!” Beomgyu called as he and the other three hurried after the Fire Sorcerer, leaving the duelling arena abuzz with the result. “Why are you in such a hurry to get back to class?”

Taehyun glanced at him over his shoulder. “Because I hate wasting time and money. That dumbass nearly ruined my first class of my first day! I don’t want my Dad _or_ my Father on my ass for it. I know Uncle Yoongi would be fine but like, everyone else? I’d rather die than disappoint them.” He looked at his watch. “Shit, Dad’s going to be on my case that I didn’t finish that off sooner.”

Kai blinked. “I don’t know if we have time to unpack _all_ of that, but hyung! You’re going to be the talk of the campus now!”

In response, the Sorcerer groaned. “Great.”

“Do you see now?” Soobin murmured to Yeonjun. “You should get off this idea of fighting with him and ask him if you can bond. At least temporarily, to see if it works? You’re looking paler these days, Yeonjun-hyung.”

Yeonjun bristled. “No, no way!” The truth was, he was feeling _okay_ ; better than he had in days and he knew it had everything to do with the excess magical energy from Taehyun’s fire.

Soobin rolled his eyes. “Hey, Taehyun!”

“Soobin!” Yeonjun hissed.

Taehyun stopped when they reached the lecture hall and raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, Soobin-ssi?”

“Call me hyung,” Soobin said, waving a hand. “More importantly, do you know of a way to quickly transfer energy between a Spirit and Sorcerer?”

Blinking at the older Sorcerer owlishly, Taehyun nodded. “Yeah, I know how. It’s a lot easier if the Sorcerer and Spirit are bonded, but there are like… temporary bonds and spells to transfer energy. Amulets, too, but that requires some extra components and an empty trinket that I don’t really have right now.”

“Perfect. Do you think you could help Yeonjun-hyung?” Soobin asked, ignoring Yeonjun’s squawk of indignation. “I know the two of you got off on the wrong foot… but I think you two would actually make a good pair of friends.”

Beomgyu raised his eyebrows and looked over at Kai. “Bold strategy, Cotton.”

“Let’s see how it pays off,” Kai agreed.

Taehyun cast a glance at Yeonjun. “Yeah, I can do that. If he’s okay with it.”

Soobin turned and gave Yeonjun a firm look. “You know as well as I do that this is necessary; you can’t keep going on like this, hyung. You need a Sorcerer. Or at least, little boosts like this to replenish your energy. Can you at least give it a try?” He sighed as Yeonjun frowned and looked away, shaking his head.

“Don’t worry about it,” Taehyun said, waving a hand. “But my Father wants to talk to you, Yeonjun-ssi… if you want, you’re welcome to come to the Shop later today. He should be back around 6:00 p.m.”

“…Hmph. We’ll see.”

The rest of the day was mercifully uneventful, and after the last class of the day, Taehyun found himself sitting at a table in the cafeteria with Yeonjun, Soobin, Beomgyu and Kai, their textbooks splayed out in random piles and notebooks open. Beomgyu groaned and put his head on the desk, shaking it. “What the hell is any of this? It sounds like complete gibberish.”

Taehyun reached over and gave his forearm an awkward pat. “They’re not doing the greatest job of breaking it down,” he said. “They’re kind of applying one general swath when how Wizards cast magic is really different from Sorcerers and Witches.” He paused. “Well, no. Wizards and Witches are closer even though Witches bond with the land but Sorcerers are a whole other thing. Like, wizards are people who can cast magic using items and components, and have to really study and work at getting magic to cast because their body doesn’t naturally create it. For example, to create fire you have to use a lighter, not just snap your fingers… so that’s different than a Sorcerer who has magical reserves in their body where that magic comes from. They’re literally born with it.”

Soobin nodded. “Kai and Beomgyu can cast something close to what I do, but they’re not going to be able to cast magic like I can and they’re going to be able to cast a wider range of spells than I can just because they’re not hamstringed by bloodlines.”

“Right, exactly,” Taehyun agreed as he pulled Beomgyu’s textbook around and his notebook. “So this book is trying to blend the Wizard approach with a Sorcerer’s approach so it’s an all-in-one guide and it’s just confusing because they’re _so_ different. Ignore anything that talks about sense and reserves, you wanna look where it’s talking about the nitty gritty - components, ink types, parchment, and — here! This section is what you want. The fluff text over here is for the Sorcerers to get us to focus since we don’t have an arcane focus like a cane or staff.”

Kai and Beomgyu looked down at the textbook where Taehyun had highlighted the passages, the confusion slowly melting away into realization. Suddenly, both young men snapped up to a rigid, straightened position, their eyes wide as the pieces clicked into place. “Holy shit,” Beomgyu breathed, staring at the textbook as if he was doing so with new eyes. “You’re a genius!”

“No, not a genius,” Taehyun protested. “But my Uncle Yoongi, he’s a Min and he’s like… honestly one of the smartest people I know. He’s got this huge library and ever since I’ve been little, I’ve been reading with him and my Uncle Namjoon. The customers that come to the shop for components and supplies, I learned a lot while they were talking with my Uncle Seokjin. It’s pretty cool.”

After he’d quickly written down the tip from Taehyun, Kai looked up at the Sorcerer. “Hyung, do you mind if I come by after class to the shop? It sounds like a really cool place.”

Taehyun blinked. “Like, to study?”

“Yeah! Is that okay?” Kai asked, tilting his head slightly. “If it’s too weird, don’t worry about it! But I thought it’d ask… it seems like it’d be a good place to study.”

“I’d have to ask, but… I don’t think it’d be a huge problem,” Taehyun said, scratching his cheek. “The library’s pretty big so there’s room… I’ll ask.”

Beomgyu grinned a little. “Maybe we should have you teach us too.”

“ _Pass_.”

Soobin looked over at Yeonjun. “Can we come too?”

Taehyun blinked again. “Sure, there’s room. Plus, my Father wants to speak to Yeonjun-ssi too.”

“Hyung,” Yeonjun muttered.

“Huh?”

“Just, call me hyung; it’s fine,” Yeonjun muttered.

Taehyun shared a long look with the others, and then nodded. “All right, sounds good.”

Soobin sighed and put his face in his hands. “Sweet, sweet progress,” he whispered, causing Kai to giggle into his hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> someone please save Soobin


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang meets the inhabitants of Third Eye's Crown, and the line drawn in the sand between Yeonjun and Taehyun becomes blurred.

Jungkook was waiting with his arms folded when Taehyun came home late that afternoon, holding a piece of parchment in his hands from the High Council of Sorcerers. “You got challenged to a _duel_ on the _first_ day of class?” he asked incredulously. “I didn’t _want_ to win that bet I had with my hyungs and Tae.”

His son groaned as he closed the door behind him, the bell jingling softly. “It wasn’t my fault!” Taehyun protested. “Some blowhard was harassing Yeonjun-hyung and I just wanted to _learn_ then he challenged me for the Spirit! I told him to buzz off but he invoked the council and has the Professor in his pocket.” Sheepishly, he rubbed the back of his neck.

“You’re really my son,” he said in disbelief. “Is this what Jin-hyung felt like?” For a moment, Jungkook seemed to be having an existential crisis, and put a tattooed hand to his forehead. “At least you won, otherwise I’d have to disown you.”

Taehyung came up from behind his husband and plucked the parchment from Jungkook’s hands to read it himself, dual-coloured eyes bright as he scanned the words once, twice, and then three times. “He was initially challenged for the right to bond with Igniria, but Taehyun refused and this Cho kid instead settled for…” His eyes flicked up as his eyebrows raised. “…he’s going to buy you lunch for the entire semester?” he asked in disbelief.

Embarrassed, Taehyun rubbed his neck. “I didn’t know what to say and I was hungry! I didn’t want to force the bond with Yeonjun-hyung, and he was being annoying so…” He shrugged. “I said I’d do his homework for a semester if I lost.”

“You really are Jungkookie’s son,” the Phoenix snorted and returned his attention back down to the parchment, where magical energy coalesced into a screen that showed the duel. “Judging by how you utterly embarrassed him, he might have been able to get a proper grade if you did his homework. – How did Igniria take it?”

“He thinks I was sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong and he’s mad I saw his true form,” Taehyun replied, sitting down heavily at the tarot table. “I didn’t do it on purpose. But… I don’t know, I think we’re kind of okay now? He said I could call him hyung and seemed to be into coming over here to study with the others. – oh! Yeah. Is it okay if Soobin-hyung, Yeonjun-hyung, Kai and Beomgyu come here to study sometimes? We can relegate ourselves to the basement study so we’re not bothering the customers.”

Jungkook blinked and shared a look with Taehyung. He grinned and leaned over, ruffling Taehyun’s fire red hair. “Look at you, making friends. Here I thought you’d be like Uncle Yoongi and we’d have to find an extrovert to adopt you like how Uncle Hobi did to him.”

“You mean how Father did to you?” Taehyun asked cheekily, laughing when Jungkook’s brows furrowed and he assailed his son with a tickling assault. “Mercy!”

Taehyung smiled fondly at the sight before him, Jungkook having quickly given up tickling their son before nuzzling him and burying him in affection. “I think you’re on dinner duty tonight, Taehyun,” he said, chuckling.

“I hope you’re all okay with instant noodles,” Taehyun replied, waiting a beat before hearing Seokjin slam open his bedroom door and yell that _no_ , no nephew of his would be making anything so _base_. “I was wondering if he was here or if he was at the in-laws.”

Jungkook smirked. “He just back. Miss. Elessaria is away on business so he’s been moping around more than usual.”

“His blood pressure is sky high because of it,” Taehyung commented, chuckling. “We should frame this notice and put it right next to the one we got from when we defeated Adeneus.”

“The way he’s going, I’m sure we’re going to get a whole bunch,” Jungkook snorted. “Might have to make a wall, ‘here’s Taehyun’s win/loss record, if he lost even once we booted him from the family’.”

“It’s not my fault!” Taehyun whined, slumping in his seat as Jungkook rested his chin on his son’s head. “Kai says I’m going to be _popular_ now and I think I would rather die.”

Taehyung smirked. “Heavy is the head that wears the crown.”

“Bah. — wait!” Taehyun’s eyes suddenly widened, realizing something. “I thought you were working late tonight, Father.”

Taehyung blinked at him. “Oh, I was supposed to but Jimin and Hoseok-hyung wanted to get a head start on the project, so I got to leave early. – why, what were you planning?”

Taehyun rolled his eyes. “Nothing!” He yelped as Taehyung picked up where Jungkook stopped, tickling his son until he was screaming jokingly for mercy. “I hate it here!” he fake exclaimed, wiping his eyes from the tears, a grin on his face.

The energy in the shop evened out around dinnertime, and Taehyun was relieved when he heard the door chime, seeing Soobin, Yeonjun, Kai and Beomgyu enter. Jungkook was behind the counter double-checking the levels in the more delicate supplies in their locked up cabinet, while Taehyung and Taehyun were playing an updated version of _Kaiju Prince_.

“How do you keep winning?” Taehyun demanded sourly, crossing his arms.

Taehyung laughed and brought his loosely closed fist up to press against his lips. “Bun, I helped create the game.” He looked over at the new arrivals, his gaze immediately falling on Yeonjun. “Ah, Igniria; I’ve been waiting for you.”

Yeonjun started, his eyes widening and he suddenly bowed deeply, shoulder-length pink hair obscuring his face. “Jujak, sir!”

Jungkook waved a hand for Kai, Beomgyu and Soobin to come over to the counter. “I’m Jungkook, Taehyun’s dad. That’s Taehyung, his father,” he supplied, seeing the confused looks on their faces. “You kids come here to study?”

After bowing politely, Beomgyu nodded. “Taehyun really seems to know a lot about magic and the way he talks about this place, it seemed like it’d be a cool place to study.”

“He’s had 16 years of all of us nattering at him about magic everyday so I guess some of it stuck,” Jungkook said with a chuckle. He waved the notice from the Council at them. “Were you kids watching this duel he had with Cho Daesung?”

Soobin nodded. “We were his support, though he really didn’t need it. He immediately cloaked himself in protective fire, shot him into the air and when he landed, set off this delayed fireball to KO the guy. It took maybe fifteen minutes?”

“He seemed mad that he took that long,” Beomgyu noted, shaking his head in disbelief.

Kai snickered. “I think he set a _record_ for the fastest duel at the program.”

A small smirk curled Jungkook’s lips. “Yeah he learned from duelling his Uncle Seokjin who’s also a Fire Sorcerer that if you don’t hit hard and hit fast, you’re going to get bodied. Fire isn’t exactly known to be a subtle element.” He jerked his thumb towards Taehyung. “Though with Spirits it’s a whole other story; they can keep a fire burning for a real long time if they’re strong enough.”

Soobin bit his lip as he looked at Taehyung, Taehyun and Yeonjun. “I hope he can help Yeonjun-hyung.”

Jungkook glanced between the Water/Ice Sorcerer and the younger Phoenix Spirit. “He’s been running on empty for a while, huh?”

“…Yeah,” Soobin admitted. “He’s stubborn and won’t accept any help, and I know why, but… I’m really hoping that Mr. Kim can help.”

Jungkook smiled a little. “I think he will.”

Back at the tarot reading table, Taehyun was watching as Taehyung held both of Yeonjun’s hands, eyes closed and brows furrowed. It seemed like his father was trying to get a more in-depth sense of Yeonjun’s power reserves, and the young Fire Sorcerer was afraid of disrupting the fragile silence so he kept his mouth shut. He could feel his father’s fire burn slow and steady, little by little his power increasing and allowing more of his true form to be shown. He always loved seeing Taehyung’s real form, Jujak the Vermillion; he thought it was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen: beautiful reds, golds, whites, greens, and yellows all swirling together in a perfect storm.

It was a show of trust - Taehyung was showing Yeonjun his true form, Jujak, and Yeonjun was returning the gesture in kind despite his intense hesitation about doing so. Knowing Yoongi and Namjoon would be equally as interested in what the experience was like of two Phoenix Spirits getting to know one another, Taehyun was keeping a close eye on what he was sensing, what he saw. He almost wanted to grab his notebook and write it down as he watched, but he knew that would upset the delicate balance as much as talking would. He chewed on his bottom lip, dark eyes watching intently as the two Spirits spoke to each other without words.

Slowly, Taehyung released Yeonjun’s hands and nodded to himself. “Now’s not the time to be prideful,” the Phoenix known as Jujak started carefully, catching Yeonjun’s gaze. “There’s nothing shameful about sharing energy with a Sorcerer, though I can understand that it must feel that you aren’t enough to sustain yourself.”

“…I know,” Yeonjun said softly, frowning as he stared down at his hands. “I know in my head I should accept whatever I can get, I just… I hear _her_ voice in my head, and she’s livid that I even need to accept help.”

Taehyung’s brows furrowed. “Her?”

“…you mean Tiamat?” Taehyun asked, despite himself.

To both Taehyung and Taehyun’s surprise, Yeonjun nodded. “I hear her all the time, it’s like she’s… in every blood vessel, every muscle, every joint and every part of my body. She’s just… angry, all the time. It’s exhausting.” He looked up at the ceiling, so overwhelmed by the peace that he was almost in tears. “It’s quiet here, though… I can finally hear myself think.”

The elder Phoenix Spirit frowned and he shared a look with his son. “Taehyun, while he’s able to be lucid, you should transfer some of your energy to him now. I would say… about 25% to start, just as a test to see if it even works as well as we hope.”

Quickly, Taehyun nodded. “Yeonjun-hyung, give me your hands? I’ll take care of the brunt of this transfer spell, just keep your mind open and try not to shut me out.” There was a long pause as Yeonjun looked distrustfully at Taehyun’s hand, but after sharing a look with Taehyung, the young Phoenix Spirit nodded and placed his hands in Taehyun’s. “Okay, how did that incantation go…” Taehyun murmured, before clearing his throat. He closed his eyes and concentrated, reciting the incantation in his mind; it was easier this way, especially with the din of the shop and the conversation Jungkook was having with his classmates.

Whereas a Wizard would have to have expensive components and an eight inch long piece of parchment with detailed instructions to cast an energy transfer spell, all Taehyun needed was skin-on-skin contact and to mentally recite the incantation. In his mind’s eye, Taehyun could see his own magical reserves, a deep and expansive pool of red. He visualized a hand made entirely out of magical energy dipping into the pool and pulling out a portion of the energy, suddenly appearing outside of the young Sorcerer as a tangible object.

Soobin, Beomgyu and Kai watched with wide eyes as the hand made entirely of magical energy steadied itself for a tense moment before slamming into Yeonjun’s chest. Right where the young Phoenix Spirit’s symbol was on his chest did the hand pierce, dropping Taehyun’s magical energy into Yeonjun’s depleted pool. The result was instantaneous – colour returned to Yeonjun’s pale features, his skin now a healthy tan tone, his pink hair vibrant and various shades of red, pink and orange, his body filling out a little bit more.

“How do you feel, Igniria?” Taehyung asked softly once the transfer had completed.

Slowly, Yeonjun opened his eyes – now a molten gold – and pressed a hand to his chest. “Amazing,” he replied, breathless. “I feel … I feel _great_.” He flexed his fingers, as if seeing them with new eyes and exhaled deeply. “It doesn’t hurt to breathe anymore.”

Nodding in satisfaction, Taehyung turned to Taehyun. “That’s about what I thought; your magic is extremely compatible with his,” he explained, rubbing his chin. “How do you feel, Taehyun? Drained? Nauseous?”

Taehyun shook his head. “A little tired, but not bad.” He huffed slightly and looked over at Yeonjun. “You were _really_ cutting it close. Any longer and you would’ve combusted into dust; your reserves were practically barren.”

Yeonjun’s eyes narrowed defensively. “It’s not like I _wanted_ to wait this long. Everyone else wasn’t right and I knew it. I’m not thrilled that the energy I need is from a brat like you.”

“ _Brat?_ ” Taehyun echoed in disbelief. “Give me back my energy, then, if it pisses you off so much!”

“No way!” Yeonjun snapped, folding his arms. “It’s mine!”

Soobin groaned and put a hand over his face. “They were so close,” he said in dismay.

“Enemies to Lovers, 200k,” Beomgyu quipped, holding up an errant crystal sphere that was on the counter and raising it up to look at through the late afternoon sunlight that was poking in through the windows.

Kai snorted. “Enemies to rivals.”

Beomgyu smirked. “Bet.”

“I can hear you!” Taehyun exclaimed, slamming his hand down on the table.

“You’ve got two ears, I’d hope so,” Yeonjun snorted.

“Shut up, you —”

Taehyung held back a smirk and snapped his fingers, getting everyone’s attention. “Easy now. Didn’t you all come here to study? I’ll show you where you can set up but you’d best be careful; Min Yoongi might be a fairly calm Sorcerer, but he won’t take to it well if you mess up his library.”

His son shuddered. “I don’t even want to remember what happened the last time he got angry. Dad’s favourite bucket hat was frozen in never-melting ice for like two weeks.”

Jungkook rolled his eyes. “He flew off the handle; it’s not my fault that he got wet. He’s a Water/Ice Sorcerer! Getting wet should not be something that elicits such a strong response. I swear he was a cat in a past life.”

“…I have so many questions and I don’t know if I want them answered,” Beomgyu commented, blinking slowly.

“It was during a sparring duel,” Taehyun answered, a look of passive horror on his face. “I can still hear the cloth ripping from the hat when it finally defrosted. That poor, poor hat.”

As Taehyung looked over at Yeonjun, the elder Phoenix Spirit laughed at the younger’s look of sheer confusion. “He’s very different here than he is at school, isn’t he?” he asked, smiling when Yeonjun, caught, looked away in a huff. “Come on, I’ll show you five to the basement study and what to stay away from.”

“…why, do the books bite?” Kai asked, snickering.

“Some do,” Taehyung replied blithely as he gestured with a hand for the young men to follow him.

Soobin blinked and looked over at Taehyun. “Is he serious?”

Taehyun subconsciously rubbed his hand in memory, his eyes distant. “Yeah, he’s serious.”

“W-What? Seriously?” Kai blinked.

Taehyung smirked. “Taehyun was a little too curious when he was a child.” He opened the door to the basement, chuckling to himself as the exclamations of surprise and wonder came from the four young men tailing behind him, with Taehyun bringing up the rear. “Magic can do quite a lot, it’s not just relegated to what can be done elementally. This shop is physically quite small on the outside, squished in between two higher rise buildings, but inside it has been modified quite heavily with magic. It’s why so many of us can live in here without encroaching on the other like we’re in a tiny dorm.”

Yeonjun glanced over his shoulder at Taehyun, who was looking past them all down to the study, his expression completely different than the stand-offish, snarky one he’d wear at school. Granted, it had only been two days since he’d known Taehyun, but he was already feeling as if he’d been dealing with his shit for decades. As soon as he caught the young Fire Sorcerer’s gaze and Taehyun raised an eyebrow in question, Yeonjun huffed and turned his attention back to following Taehyung down the steps.

The basement study could more accurately be called a grand library, with shelves stretching as far as they could see, with a couple of tables and armchairs. “Stay right here at this table,” Taehyung was saying as Yeonjun snapped out of his haze, realizing dazedly for the first time that he was allowed to delve into his own thoughts; he hadn’t heard Tiamat at all since he’d been in the shop. “Don’t go past those shelves over there - see the red spines? Past that is Yoongi-hyung and Namjoon-hyung’s personal quarters. Other than that, feel free to browse the shelves.”

“…where are the books that bite?” Beomgyu asked cautiously.

Taehyung chuckled. “They’re clearly labelled and behind a protective shield.”

Soobin looked at Taehyun incredulously. “How did you get bit, then?”

The Fire Sorcerer’s shoulders hunched up defensively. “I was five!” he protested. “The books Uncle Yoongi would read to me never had teeth so how was I supposed to know?”

Yeonjun smirked. “Something finally bit you back, huh?”

“Shut up,” Taehyun grumbled, a faint blush colouring his cheeks as he sat down at the table and focused very pointedly on pulling out the small mountain of assignments they already had. His face turned redder when Taehyung ruffled his bright red hair. “They added the protective shield after I got bit.”

“Have fun, Bun,” Taehyung said fondly, heading back upstairs after giving the group a little wave.

A stretch of silence followed, and Taehyun was staring intently at his notebook knowing full well that the other four boys were staring at him with shit-eating grins on their faces. “Don’t say a word,” he warned.

Beomgyu grinned and obnoxiously brushed Taehyun’s cheek with the feathery end of a quill. “Why are you so sour, _Bun?_ ” he asked, his grin widening.

“You don’t get to call me that,” Taehyun hissed.

“I think it’s cute!” Kai added. “Was it because you had big ears as a kid?”

“No!”

Soobin smiled slightly. “It’s the smile, isn’t it? I noticed you and Mr. Jeon have the same kind of bunny-toothed smile.”

“Shut it!”

Yeonjun’s smirk was a lot wider now, bolstered by Taehyun’s energy and a residual connection that gave him an inkling of just how embarrassed the Fire Sorcerer was. He threw his arm around the younger man, and hooked his arm so he could hold Taehyun in place. “It’s nice to see that you’re not a prick _all_ the time,” he said, keeping his arm firmly around Taehyun, his smirk curling confidently as he could see and feel Taehyun’s embarrassment spiking. “You’re almost cute like this.”

Taehyun struggled against the Phoenix’s grip, cursing under his breath with regret at giving Yeonjun so much of his energy if he was going to be this annoying about it. Slowly, he stopped struggling and lowered his head, longish hair falling into his eyes. Yeonjun raised an eyebrow and ducked his head down to see what Taehyun was muttering. In a swift movement, Taehyun raised his gaze and let his fingers ghost along Yeonjun’s chin. “Not as cute as you,” he said softly, dark eyes doing their best smoulder - he’d learned from Seokjin, after all. “I lost my heart to you as soon as I saw your eyes.”

A bright red blush shot across Yeonjun’s cheeks and he released Taehyun in a hurry when the younger man brushed his thumb along the Phoenix’s plush lower lip. He shoved Taehyun to the side as the Sorcerer threw his head back and laughed. “What the hell?!” he exclaimed, eyes wide and ears turning fire-engine red.

“Got you!” Taehyun cackled.

“There’s still time for you to join the winning side of our bet,” Beomgyu said to Kai, who was currently laughing so hard he was crying.

Kai shook his head wildly. “No, no way!”

Soobin shook his head, pretending to be very put upon, but there was a smile tugging at his lips; it was nice to see Yeonjun feel well enough to joke around, and, of course, to get teased. “We do have work to do here,” he said finally. “It’s only going to get worse if we don’t stay on top of it.”

Luckily for Soobin’s last sliver of his will to live, Taehyun nodded and got to work, the other three mercifully settling down and allowing the group as a whole to finally get started on their assignments. This became the beginning of a comfortable routine for the students, and after a couple of weeks, Soobin, Kai, Beomgyu and Yeonjun met the rest of the inhabitants of _Third Eye’s Crown_ : Min Yoongi, Kim Namjoon and Jeon Seokjin, Jungkook’s older brother.

“Cat got your tongue?” Yeonjun asked with a shit-eating grin on his face as Soobin’s usual calm and cool composure crumbled like a biscuit raft in milk when he met Yoongi. “Where was all that bravado a minute ago? ‘Oh, I’m going to ask _Min Yoongi_ to tutor me so I can —’ mmf!”

Soobin clapped a hand over the Spirit’s mouth. “Shut _up_ ,” he hissed. He smiled politely to a very amused Yoongi and pressed his hand tighter to Yeonjun’s mouth, only pulling his hand away when the Phoenix Spirit licked his palm. “Ugh!”

“Who wants to learn from _Yoongi_ anyway?” Seokjin muttered, running a hand through his hair. “He’ll sleep the entire time and you’d be self-learning. When it came time to teach Jungkook how to use his water/ice magic he set him off with a book and wandered away.”

Yoongi snorted. “You can’t learn the practical stuff if you don’t have your textbook fundamentals down. Jungkook-ah always shirked his studying responsibilities.”

Namjoon sighed and rubbed his temples. “I’m going to stop myself from trying to explain the hypocrisy of that statement given your anti-school rhetoric.”

“Don’t be so _cold_ ,” Jungkook snickered, giving a solid high-five to Seokjin who had thrown his back and cackled.

Seokjin wiped his eyes and held out a hand to Soobin. “ _Ice_ to meet you, Soobinie!”

“What is _happening_ ,” Beomgyu whispered.

“This is amazing, hyung, shh!” Kai whispered back.

Taehyun grinned. “Sounds like some of you need to _chill out_.”

Yeonjun rolled his eyes. “I’m starting to realize why you’re the way you are, Taehyun.”

“I’m just trying to _break the ice_ ,” Taehyun replied blithely, managing to hold a blank expression right up until both Jungkook and Seokjin started to laugh, which set off the whole rest of the shop.

“This is my own personal hell,” Yoongi muttered, though a smile was tugging at his lips.

“I guess hell _froze over_ ,” Taehyung said with a grin.

“Not you too!” Yoongi groaned. He turned and placed his hands on Soobin’s shoulders, staring at the taller boy with a pleading look on his face. “Please promise me you won’t turn out like them.”

Sheepishly, Soobin smiled and nodded. “Come hail or high water, I won’t.”

There was a long, long pause before the pun’s effect hit the inhabitants of the shop and raucous laughter filled the walls. Taehyun blindly reached for the nearest body to stabilize himself and leaned against them, wiping his eyes with his sleeve. Yeonjun stiffened, looking down at the Sorcerer who hadn’t yet realized who it was that he was hanging onto and swallowed tightly as Taehyun face buried itself against Yeonjun’s neck, huffs of breath pressing against his skin from the Sorcerer’s laughter. Involuntarily, he tightened his own arm around the Sorcerer’s waist, keeping him close.

He really did have a cute bunny smile.

“Why is it every time I come into this shop, it’s an absolute madhouse?” Elessaria asked with a chuckle as she entered, her Black Cat Spirit Changkyun half curled around her neck while most of him rested comfortably in the hood of her cloak.

Seokjin wiped his eyes as he walked over to place a kiss to his wife’s cheek. “You knew what you married into.”

Elessaria gave a highly exaggerated sigh as Seokjin cooed at Changkyun and gave the Spirit a little pet and a scritch under his little chin, pleased when the Cat Spirit leaned into his touch. She then rolled her eyes when her husband gave a startled yowl as her Spirit opened his eyes and chomped down on his finger. “You know he baits you into that every single time,” she said, a rueful smile on her lips.

“You bonded with a _demon_ ,” Seokjin hissed, cradling his finger as Changkyun gave a little kitty snicker and stretched out languidly, nuzzling his Sorceress’ neck while giving Seokjin a smug look. The Fire Sorcerer let out a wail of dismay when Changkyun let literally every other person in the shop pet him, including Soobin, Kai, and Beomgyu. “This little fur ball..!”

Taehyun laughed and wiped at his eyes again, straightening up and finally seeing clearly without his eyes being squeezed shut or bleary from the tears. He gripped Yeonjun’s shoulder as he finally straightened up, and looked out at the gathered people in the shop, a smile on his lips. The smile faded as he realized that Yeonjun wasn’t out amongst those chatting animatedly, which made him the person that Taehyun was leaning against. “Ah! Sorry.” He pulled away suddenly, looking away and rubbing at his cheeks as if willing something away.

… was he blushing?

“Don’t worry about it,” Yeonjun mumbled, looking away as a blush coloured his own cheeks.

~ * ~

“For this project you’ll be split into pairs. Each pair will be given a concept and will have to create and present a lesson to the class,” the professor explained, adjusting his bifocals. “This will take the place of your mid-term examination in this class, and as such will be worth 25% of your mark. I will now go through the assigned pairs…”

Taehyun sighed and pressed his forehead to his desk. “Kill me now,” he muttered.

“You’ll probably be the most sought after partner,” Kai said, nudging him with an elbow. “This is the first time I’m friends with the popular kid.”

Taehyun snorted. “I’m not popular and it doesn’t matter; the Professor is making pairs. — pay attention, you’re going to be called at some point.”

“…Choi Yeonjun and Jeon Taehyun - Spirit/Sorcerer Bonds, Choi Soobin and Choi Beomgyu - Summoning Magic, Choi Jongho and Huening Kai - ethical use of spells during non-magical events…”

There was a long pause and Taehyun slowly turned to meet Yeonjun’s eyes, who had turned as well at that exact moment, the two of them sharing the same hesitant, awkward look. They hadn’t really talked one-on-one or at all without the other around since the ‘incident’ at _Third Eye’s Crown_ , when Taehyun had his face pressed into Yeonjun’s neck and Yeonjun hadn’t pushed him away, instead pulling him closer against him.

“You won’t have any assignments up until the due date, so please focus your energy on creating the lesson,” the Professor stated. “Please use the rest of the class to speak with your partner and get started.”

Faintly, Taehyun and Yeonjun could hear shuffling and muffled words of parting as Kai, Soobin, and Beomgyu shifted to get into better seating to brainstorm with their partners, but they were staring at each other, almost daring the other to talk first. “…what are we going to talk about specifically?” Taehyun finally asked, breaking the awkward silence. “This topic’s way too broad.”

Yeonjun looked away. “We could… I don’t know, talk about Perfect Links … don’t … don’t your parents have a perfect link? And your… your Aunt-in-law … she has a Spirit bonded to her too, doesn’t she? We could … talk to them. Ask them how it all works.”

“We could… also talk about … what’s going on between us,” Taehyun added, his eyes widening when Yeonjun whirled around and stared at him with a stunned look on his face. “I-I mean about the energy transfer! W-What did you _think_ I was talking about?!”

The Phoenix Spirit’s shoulders hunched up and he folded his arms tightly. “Nothing!” he hissed, his tone sharp from embarrassment and defensiveness. “What were _you_ thinking about?”

“Nothing!” Taehyun snapped, his ears feeling as if they were about to burn right off. He turned his attention back to his notebook, writing down a loose plan of what they could structure the lesson around - the basics, a normal link and a Perfect Link. The plan would be bolstered by anecdotal evidence from Taehyun’s family, and supplemented by Yeonjun’s own experiences as a Spirit so it would be well-rounded. “…how’s this?”

Yeonjun glanced down at the loosely planned list, and nodded, looking away as soon as he’d finished reading. “Looks good to me,” he mumbled.

“We can talk … we can talk to Dad and Father tonight. Pinning down Miss. Elessaria will be a bit harder, but we can ask Uncle Seokjin for help on that. That just leaves … temporary bonds. And… us. With the energy transfer. — Speaking of… you okay?” Taehyun asked, eyes flicking up from his notebook.

Tension ratcheted up through Yeonjun’s slender frame and he nodded. “I’m fine. I might…” he grit his teeth hand forced himself to keep talking despite the pounding headache - Tiamat’s voice was getting louder again. “I might need… another transfusion in a few days… like, end of the week.”

Taehyun’s eyes widened. “That soon? You really do burn through it like nothing.”

“It’s not my fault!” Yeonjun snapped.

The Fire Sorcerer raised his hands in surrender. “I didn’t say it was!” He frowned and looked at Yeonjun. “We should… maybe we should temporarily bond so you’re not fizzling out like this. It might be too dangerous to just do quick 25% transfers if your energy consumption is that high.”

“Isn’t there… didn’t you mention something about amulets?” Yeonjun huffed out, keeping his eyes pinned away from Taehyun’s.

Taehyun blinked. “Yeah, but we’d have to go to the Shop for that. I don’t have any empty amulets that would work right now, and for what you need, it might need to be a really strong one. That’s why I’m saying a temporary bond might work the best; that way you don’t have to worry about suddenly running out. At least think about it?”

As the period ended and the class started filing out of the lecture hall, Yeonjun suddenly grabbed his backpack and slung it angrily over his shoulders. “I’m not bonding with you until we fight!” he said testily as he stormed off.

Beomgyu sat down next to Taehyun, eyebrow raised. “I see married life’s going well.”

“And I see a dead man sitting beside me.”

~ * ~

Jungkook blinked slowly as he listened to the scattered explanation of their mid-term project from Taehyun and Yeonjun, clearly having trouble piecing together what they were talking about. He looked over at Taehyung, who seemed more amused the whole thing than anything else. “They’re talking about doing a presentation on Spirit/Sorcerer bonds, right?”

Taehyung laughed and nodded. “It took me a second too.” He picked up Taehyun’s notebook, looking at the tightened up structure of their plan. “I see; you’re going to talk about the various types of bonds - temporary, normal and perfect, that’s a good base. Any further and you’d be having your own lecture.”

“Might as well get Namjoon-hyung to lecture at that point,” Jungkook snorted, folding his tattooed arms. “But yeah, Tae and I can talk to you about the whole Perfect Link thing. The short version is the energy transfer is more of a shared pool.” He gently tugged Taehyun’s notebook over and turned to a new page, picking up a pencil and began to sketch out a series of circular reservoirs arranged in a circle with a large one in the middle. “So this is what my Sorcerer energy looks like - it’s a lot different than a single or even dual-element sorcerer because I’m an Omni. So this one here, it’s larger than the others because that’s the fire element pool. It was already larger than normal because of my family’s bloodline, but when I bonded with Tae, it became larger than the others combined.”

Taehyung nodded and pointed to the spot in the middle. “This is the continuous transfer pool; this is where my energy is and that’s where his energy is. It’s in a constant flow back and forth so we both add and subtract from each other’s energy pools. It’s perfectly balanced.”

Yeonjun blinked as he looked from the picture to Jungkook. “What would it look like normally?”

“Elessaria can explain it better from her perspective, but it would be tilted more in the Spirit’s favour in terms of energy distribution,” Jungkook explained. “The Spirit gets a boost in power and a bigger energy pool to draw from, and the Sorcerer gets a familiar and if they’re of a different magic type, access to a different pool of magic. Phoenixes are different in that they can largely sustain themselves and even revive their Sorcerer if they go down. Most of the time, the Spirit perishes with their Sorcerer.”

Taehyun nodded slowly; it sounded familiar enough, and he knew he’d heard the explanation before but having Yeonjun so close while things were so awkward between them was making it difficult to concentrate. Why did he have to smell so nice? “So it’d be one large pool of their single-element, and then the Sorcerer’s power has a larger funnel to the Spirit, and there’s a smaller one back to the Sorcerer from the Spirit.” 

“There’s also the telepathy with the Perfect Link,” Taehyung started, tapping his temple. “With a Perfect Link, the Sorcerer and Spirit can speak into each other’s minds and feel everything the other is feeling at all times. It takes a lot of work and practice to make sure that you’re not sensing it all the time and to keep up some protective barriers. Even for Jungkook and I, we spent a lot of time training together to make sure we could make a soft barrier so we could hear ourselves think.”

Jungkook rubbed his neck. “But being able to sense what Tae’s feeling, to communicate with him without words, there’s no understating how helpful it is to ensure we’re taking care of each other. But it’s not a crutch; we still have to work hard together.” He smiled at his husband. “We’re a team and a 1HKO household.”

Taehyung laughed softly, his lips curling into his signature boxy smile as he brought his loosely closed fist up to his mouth to hide it and his soft blush. “Igniria, how are you feeling? Is Taehyun’s energy enough?”

“It’s fine,” Yeonjun said stiffly.

“You said you’d need another boost at the end of the week,” Taehyun pointed out, frowning at him. “What are you talking about?”

“ _Snitch!_ ” Yeonjun hissed.

Taehyun shook his head. “Call me whatever you want, but there’s no point in lying to Father _or_ Dad about this.”

Both Jungkook and Taehyung shared a concerned look with each other before regarding the two younger men in front of them. “Have you considered a temporary bond, Igniria?” Taehyung asked gently.

“He got all huffy when I suggested it the last time,” Taehyun explained, leaning back in his seat. “There’s amulets as an option but for how much energy he needs if he’s low already… I don’t know if there’s one big enough for what he’d need.”

To Yeonjun’s rising panic, Taehyung nodded. “I agree; you’d need a rare stone and a lot more of Taehyun’s energy to make that work. Amulets are generally for lower-tier bonds and emergency replenishment. It’s not a permanent fix; it’s barely a temporary one.”

“I _know_ , it’s just…” Yeonjun was floundering; he didn’t have a good reason and he didn’t like how Taehyung’s gaze could just see right through him.

“It’s just what?” Taehyung asked gently, his voice soft.

Jungkook raised an eyebrow. “What happened between the two of you? You’re both acting weirder than normal.” When neither boy answered and instead looked flustered, both their gazes pinned to the floor, the Omni Sorcerer’s dual-coloured eyes narrowed as it all clicked into place. He smirked and looked over at Taehyung.

Taehyung’s expression was confused until a second later, and suddenly, it shifted to one of realization and surprise. A boxy grin came to his lips and he bit down on his fist to keep himself from saying something that might embarrass the boys further. “Ahem. My apologies; but a temporary bond can be anywhere from a couple of hours to years, with an open caveat that either party can unilaterally end the bond at any time for any reason. I temporarily bonded with Jin-hyung in order to rescue Jungkook from Adeneus.”

“It’s up to Yeonjun-hyung,” Taehyun mumbled, eyes still pinned to the floor and ears burning underneath his beanie. He just _knew_ that Taehyung and Jungkook had been speaking to each other through their Link about him and Yeonjun, and he wanted nothing more than to be swallowed up by a hole in the floor. Or to be devoured by one of the books in the restricted area of the library. He’d take the risk. _Anything_ to avoid the embarrassment he was currently wallowing in.

He wasn’t sure if it was because it was his energy that was being burned up by Yeonjun, but he could feel the rising tension coming off the Phoenix Spirit. Finally, Yeonjun slammed his hands down on the tabletop and turned to Taehyun, scooping up his hands off his lap and holding them tightly. “I, Igniria of the Blue Flame of Tiamat, Mother of All Dragons, do consent to temporarily bond with you, Jeon Taehyun, from the Eternal Flame of Imvaernarho from now until midnight tonight. Do you consent?”

Startled and thrown off by the sheer determination in Yeonjun’s eyes and the tight grip he hand on his hands, Taehyun could only stare slack-jawed. He hissed as Yeonjun squeezed his hands hard, and he shot a dirty look at the Spirit. “Nngh. Fine! I, Jeon Taehyun, from the Eternal Flame of Imvaernarho, do consent to temporarily bond with you, Igniria of the Blue Flame of Tiamat, Mother of All Dragons, from now until midnight tonight.”

For a moment, nothing happened and Yeonjun was about to snap at the Sorcerer that he screwed something up when suddenly their hands were wrapped in a swirling mixture of blue and red flame, coming together to mix into a startling purple. The vibrant, strangely hued fire curled around Yeonjun’s right wrist and Taehyun’s right forearm, imprinting Taehyun’s Sorcerer Mark on Yeonjun’s wrist. Smaller, intricate writing curled around the Mark on Yeonjun’s wrist - the terms of the temporary bond; the same writing was pressed near Taehyun’s Sorcerer Mark.

As soon as the Marks solidified on both young men, the effect was immediate: a rush of power surged through the newly forged bond, like water barreling from a freshly destroyed dam. Yeonjun’s hair was a vibrant pink with crimson red streaks, lengthened down to his shoulders and skin was practically glowing with energy. As the Spirit opened his eyes, Taehyung and Jungkook looked at each other in shock: Yeonjun’s left eye was the same dark red as Taehyun’s. Quickly, they turned to their son and saw that there were streaks of hot pink ghosting through Taehyun’s fire red hair, the lower half of his hair melting seamlessly into the fiery blue of Tiamat’s flame in a perfect gradient. His eyes remained closed, and as Yeonjun released his hands to grapple with the sudden wealth of energy he had, closed his hands into white-knuckled fists.

Taehyung frowned; Taehyun was beginning to hyperventilate. “Bun, are you—” he jumped as Taehyun’s dual-coloured eyes opened and he shot to his feet. “Bun!”

“I … I need … just … a minute…!” Taehyun breathed, suddenly taking off towards the basement library.

Both Jungkook and Taehyung were on their feet in an instant, ready to run after their son but were cut off by Yeonjun who took off first, hot on Taehyun’s tail. “What the hell happened?” Jungkook asked, his brows furrowing in concern. “Was he overwhelmed by what he felt from Yeonjun?”

Taehyung’s frown deepened and he nodded. “Did you see their eyes, Jungkookie? They have a Perfect Link. Even their temporary bond showed it.”

“Shit,” Jungkook cursed, running a hand through his hair. “I wanna go down there, but they need to sort this out themselves.”

“…Yes, exactly,” Taehyung agreed, though he looked just as worried as his husband.

~ * ~

Taehyun let out a choked gasp as he pushed himself to run through the maze of shelves, desperate to outrun the rising tide that was threatening to pull him asunder. Yeonjun was in every thought, every blood vessel, every muscle, every stretch of his lungs, _everything_. The Spirit felt with every inch of his being, but more than that, he could hear the banshee’s shriek of Tiamat, piercing through the peacefulness that was once his mind, and Taehyun felt like the Dragon’s claws were digging into his skull.

Is this was Yeonjun had been dealing with the entire time?

Suddenly, Taehyun collided with something solid and felt a tight grip on his arms. Reflexively, he struggled, but another firm shake jolted his eyes open. Yeonjun was staring back at him, dual-coloured eyes ablaze with something Taehyun was in no shape to discern. “L-Let go!” Taehyun pleaded, shaking his head wildly. “I can’t, I can’t think, I —”

“I know!” Yeonjun interrupted, sliding his hands up so they were cupping Taehyun’s cheeks. “I know,” he said in a much softer tone, using his stronger grip to get the Sorcerer to look at him in the eyes. “That’s what it’s like with her. But you have to look at me. Just… listen to me, okay?”

Taehyun shook his head again, reaching up with his own hands to grip his head. There was too much - Tiamat’s screeching, Yeonjun’s powerful emotions and his own swirling in a certifiable maelstrom. He couldn’t understand the Spirit, he couldn’t understand _anything_. It was all a mess, and Taehyun felt like he was about to be pulled into the abyss. “It’s too much, I can’t—”

“For fuck’s sake _you’re not listening_ ,” Yeonjun hissed, still holding Taehyun’s face in his hands. “Don’t you understand I can feel what you’re feeling too? Fuck. _Fine_. — I’ll ask for forgiveness later.”

Before Taehyun could ask what Yeonjun meant by that, he felt the Spirit’s lips on his, capturing them in an all-consuming kiss. The second their lips connected, the minute that the kiss deepened, all Taehyun could feel was Yeonjun. One of the Phoenix’s hands slid around from Taehyun’s cheek to anchor in the Sorcerer’s vibrant hair, pushing him back against the nearest stack of books. As their lips lightly disconnected when the need to breathe became too much, Taehyun found himself chasing after the Spirit’s lips - he was desperate for the salve that was Yeonjun’s kiss for the burn of their bond.

Yeonjun’s nails, anchored tightly in his hair, suddenly dug in and grazed Taehyun’s scalp, but he didn’t care. All he wanted was this feeling, this specific, overwhelming, missing piece feeling that he had been trying to ignore for the last handful of weeks. Quickly, recklessly, bolstered by the fearlessness coursing through his veins from their Perfect Link, Taehyun’s wrapped his own arms around Yeonjun’s sinewy body. He could feel Yeonjun’s tongue slide against the seam of his lips - a silent request.

Just as Taehyun opened his mouth to let Yeonjun in, a sudden call from the staircase pulled him out of the delicious haze he’d found himself in. “Bun! Are you okay?” Jungkook called, his voice wrought with concern. “You two have been down there a long time!”

Abruptly, Taehyun’s eyes snapped open and he shoved Yeonjun back, eyes wild and a cold fission of realization coursing through his veins. “Y-Yeah, we’re fine!” he called, his voice hoarse and fucked out, not at all making a convincing case one way or the other.

“Come on up here, both of you and let’s talk!” Jungkook instructed and the sound of his heavy boots stomping up the wooden steps felt heavier in the charged atmosphere that he was blissfully unaware of.

“Coming!” Taehyun called back.

As the Sorcerer turned to walk towards the staircase, Yeonjun grabbed his wrist and held it tight. The Spirit’s eyes narrowed; he could feel Taehyun block him out and he’d be damned before he let it happen. “We need to talk,” he hissed.

To his intense irritation, Taehyun wrenched his wrist out of Yeonjun’s tight grip and stayed with his back towards the Phoenix. “There’s nothing to talk about,” he said stiffly. He squared his shoulders and walked towards the staircase, never once looking back at Yeonjun.

Yeonjun didn’t need their Perfect Link to see that Taehyun was full of shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sure everything's fine


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are unintended side-effects to Yeonjun and Taehyun's Perfect Link, and both Spirit and Sorcerer have difficulties dealing with it. A sudden development, however, forces the hand of one of them.

The air was palpable, thick with tension and awkwardness, and it was all Taehyun could do to keep from spontaneously combusting from the war raging in his mind and body. He sat ramrod still in his seat at the tarot reading table, looking anywhere but at Yeonjun. Not that it mattered much - he could feel every thought, every breath, every hidden emotion. He swallowed tightly and clenched his fists tightly against his thighs, watching his father and dad so intent he was sure he looked like a lunatic.

_“Just talk to me you asshole.”_

Taehyun tensed and clenched his jaw. _“There’s nothing to talk about.”_

 _“The hell there’s not,”_ Yeonjun hissed in his mind. _“You’re an idiot; don’t you know that I can hear and feel everything you do? We need to talk about this or we’re both fucked.”_

_“Just… ignore it until midnight.”_

_“Who’s being stubborn now?”_

_“You!”_

“Bun…” Taehyung started slowly, reaching over and placing a hand on his son’s tense arm. “Talk to us. What’s going on?” At Taehyun’s firm shake of the head, Taehyung frowned and looked at Yeonjun. “You can’t shut this out, there’s no secrets in a Perfect Link at first.”

Yeonjun sighed and raked a hand through his hair. “He’s hearing what I was, just Tiamat’s rage and her screaming. That’s why he won’t talk; his brain’s literally just nothing but her and she’s furious.”

Jungkook frowned. “Yeonjun… are you able to stay here tonight? I don’t think it’s safe for the two of you to be separated tonight if this is happening. As much as Tiamat is a part of you - both of you now - putting space between the two of you might only make it worse.”

“…Yeah, probably,” Yeonjun agreed. “The only thing that’s stopped her from KO-ing him is —”

“—nothing,” Taehyun grit out, his nails digging into his palms.

Yeonjun shot him a look and in a move made by Taehyun earlier, turned to Jungkook and Taehyung and told them the truth. “Skin on skin contact. We need to be physically touching right now for either one of us to be strong enough to block her out completely. I’m used to her but Taehyun won’t be.”

Jungkook’s frown deepened and he nodded. “Yeah, you’re definitely staying here tonight. Are you staying with anyone, Yeonjunie?”

“…I room with Soobin,” Yeonjun replied, reaching over and sliding up Taehyun’s sleeve so he could rest his hand on his wrist, skin to skin. “I can tell him what happened.”

Taehyun stared at the Phoenix’s slender fingers encircled around his wrist, upset and frustrated that this was really the only way that he could get a moment’s peace from Tiamat’s relentless anger. “So, what, we just have to hold hands until midnight?” he muttered, every word feeling like he had to extract Excalibur from the Stone. His head felt as if it was going to burst, Tiamat’s claws digging in further and further, piercing through his soul and clenching her scaly hands around his heart. “You my AcountabiliBuddy or something?”

“If both of you are feeling a sense of normalcy only when you’re holding hands, then … unfortunately, you two do need to stay like this until then, yes,” Taehyung agreed, brushing some of Taehyun’s multi-hued hair back. “Deep breaths, Bun. Just trust Igniria, and let him guide you through this; he’s more experienced dealing with Tiamat than you are.”

“I thought you said a Perfect Link doesn’t hurt,” Taehyun whispered, pain lacing his tone. Yeonjun instinctively tightened his grip around Taehyun’s wrist, sliding his hand down to lace their fingers together. Startled, Taehyun looked down at their hands, then up to the Spirit; he couldn’t hear her… the screaming had stopped.

Jungkook frowned and pressed a kiss to Taehyun’s forehead. “It shouldn’t, but this is a very different circumstance,” he admitted. “Take Yeonjunie up to your room, okay, Bun? We’ll talk with Jin-hyung, Yoongi-hyung, and Namjoon-hyung about this. I think… we should probably ask Elessaria-noona to come too.”

Taehyung nodded. “Yes, we should; this is all hands on deck. — will you be okay to get upstairs, Bun?”

“…Yeah,” Taehyun mumbled, getting to his feet and trying to ignore the warmth that was radiating from his and Yeonjun’s hands. “Excuse us…” He struggled to get to his feet, feeling a strange sense of vertigo, but forced himself up and led Yeonjun up the stairs to the expansive upper levels, down to the end of the hall where his room was. The silence was thick as Taehyun opened the door, waiting until Yeonjun was inside before closing the door. “…here it is. Nothing much, kinda messy.”

Yeonjun would beg to differ; Taehyun’s room was stylishly decorated with a clear aesthetic, but still paid respect to his family and upbringing. Everything was neatly packed away, even the items on his desk, while full, were arranged so that they were out of the way. On the bed was an opened zip-up binder with what looked to be old playing cards that were large, with big pictures and even bigger numbers/letters. “…what’s this?”

Taehyun’s eyes widened and he turned red. Embarrassment and fond memories wafted through their Link, and Yeonjun almost forgot that they were mad at each other. The cards clearly held a close memory for Taehyun, and the Spirit could see various memories of playing this game with Taehyung and Jungkook, including the moment that Taehyun met the Phoenix Spirit when he was four years old. “…it’s a prototype deck of the kid version of _Kaiju_ _Prince_ ,” Taehyun mumbled. “Father gave it to me when we first met.”

“That’s cute,” Yeonjun said, gently turning the binder around with his free hand. “These are in pretty good condition.” The conversation was absolutely benign, but what else were they going to do? At least Taehyun was responding.

“…once I outgrew it, I put them in there,” Taehyun explained, sitting down heavily. “Father brought home the commercial version so if we played it, we used those.” He shifted and pulled open a drawer at his desk, pulling out a well-worn card box and gently chucked it on the bed.

Yeonjun looked down at the box, then over to Taehyun. “What, you wanna play a game right now?” he asked incredulously.

“Do you have any better ideas?” Taehyun asked flatly.

“Are you serious? You’re going to try and ignore that we kissed in the library?” Yeonjun asked in disbelief. At the bluntness of the question, Taehyun turned bright red.

“ _You_ kissed _me_ ,” Taehyun protested.

Yeonjun rolled his eyes and pressed forward, getting into Taehyun’s personal space, his dual coloured eyes bright in the natural light of the Sorcerer’s room. “And _you_ kissed me _back_.” With their hands still connected, Yeonjun reached forward with his free hand and ran his thumb along Taehyun’s lower lip. “Or did you conveniently forget that?”

Defensively, Taehyun hunched up his shoulders and childishly bit at Yeonjun’s thumb, much like the way Changkyun would to Seokjin. He had hoped that Yeonjun would get annoyed and drop this whole thing, but instead, the Phoenix Spirit stayed pressed ever closer, until he had Taehyun pressed up against his headboard. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“I can feel everything you do,” Yeonjun murmured, half-lidded gaze catching Taehyun’s and holding it hostage. “And what I feel, is, that you don’t really hate me or that kiss. So let’s talk, Taehyun.”

“Talk. About. What,” Taehyun grit out, trying to push down his feelings. It was useless, and he knew it; with their Bond, Taehyun knew exactly what Yeonjun was talking about. He could feel it; every single emotion and stray thought was shared. He was an open book, and he couldn’t hate it anymore if he tried. “It happened, so what? It’s just… a way to stop a Draconic Goddess from tearing our brains to mulch.”

Yeonjun was unrelenting, making full use of not only their Bond’s Perfect Link, but of the lucidity that came with being pressed so close to Taehyun. “You don’t really believe that,” he said softly, steady on his knees as he held the Sorcerer’s gaze. “If we don’t figure this out, we’re going to be fucked, Taehyun… not just for the project, but in general.”

“Just what … is there to figure out? You said it yourself, there’s no way to shut her up for good,” Taehyun pointed out. “We can’t keep holding hands like toddlers.”

The Phoenix Spirit shook his head. “There is a way. — Here.” He released their hands and cupped Taehyun’s cheeks in both his hands, pressing their foreheads together. _“Take a look… take a real good look at what your energy pool looks like now. Do you see… that weird carved symbol? That’s Tiamat’s Symbol. Do you see that it has grooves?”_

Taehyun frowned, squeezing his eyes shut. The screeching was faint, and the young Sorcerer knew that this was his chance - there wasn’t going to be a better time on the horizon and as afraid as he was about falling further down this habit hole with Yeonjun, there was no other way. The fear gripped him tight, exacerbated by the Dragon Queen’s fury, by the piercing pain of her claws in his mind, around his heart. It seemed like Tiamat was laser focused on the young Sorcerer’s deep seeded insecurities, what he hid beneath the snark and his book smarts.

Growing up surrounded by highly skilled practitioners of magic, with an eclectic clientele, Taehyun had never really struggled to understand anything when it came to the world he lived in. He was taught by the best, and picked everything up as easily as he could breathe. He enjoyed discussing the weird anomalies of magical theory with Yoongi, arguing logical fallacies and magical ethics with Namjoon, teaming up with Jungkook to give Seokjin a minor aneurysm when it came to throwing different magical terms together to make new ones, or learning about Spirits and their culture with Taehyung. Throughout all of it, he never felt like he couldn’t handle it.

Ever since he met Choi Yeonjun, however, Taehyun felt like everything he knew meant jack shit. The Phoenix Spirit that burned with the Blue Flame of Tiamat upended everything, turned his entire world upside down and inside out, and the young Fire Sorcerer was still reeling from it. But he knew he had to listen to Yeonjun; he had to trust him. As scary as it was to be standing on the precipice of the unknown, being pushed by the rogue energy of a Draconic Goddess, the Mother of them All… he had to make the jump.

It was okay if he didn’t know what he was doing.

Right?

Taehyun slowly raised his hands and rested them overtop of Yeonjun’s, trying to focus on what he saw in his Mind’s Eye: his energy reservoir, the Symbol of Tiamat, and the core pool that was now where his energy and Yeonjun’s was shared. It looked like Jungkook and Taehyung’s, but different in its own way, no doubt due to the fact that Yeonjun wasn’t a traditional Phoenix Spirit.

_“I can see it.”_

Waves of relief flooded through their connection from Yeonjun and he continued to stay pressed as close as possible. _“Think. You’re smart, you’re really fucking smart, Taehyun. What can we do to put up a barrier to stop her? We can’t keep going on like this, she’ll drive us mad and I don’t know about you, but as nice as it is, I can’t literally hold your hand all the time.”_

The Sorcerer snorted involuntarily. _“This isn’t really something that came up when I learned about Spirits… but if that thing’s got empty grooves, we could … we could fill it with_ ** _our_** _energy. We could… try and make a … path from the pool of shared energy to the Symbol. If we overwhelm it, we can keep her at bay. I think. It’s like… it’s the concept of possession, which has nothing to do with Spirit/Sorcerer bonds, but, it seems like… she’s been possessing you. It might work.”_

More relief.

 _“Just… we can try. I don’t know if this is going to work,”_ Taehyun said quickly, panic rising up again. _“I don’t know anything about this.”_

_“It’s fine if you don’t know. We can try. If not, there’s people who can help. You don’t have to know everything right out the gate.”_

_“…since when did you become so wise?”_

_“I’m always like this. That bitch is just always screaming so she fried out my last nerve. Imagine what you’ve been hearing for a few minutes for my whole_ **_life_ ** _.”_

_“I should give Soobin-hyung a fruit basket for putting up with you.”_

_“Shut the hell up.”_

_“Make me.”_

There was a beat of silence before Yeonjun’s plush lips pressed against his own, the Spirit moving so that he was practically straddling the Sorcerer’s hips. Taehyun could feel slender fingers with long nails lightly scraping against his scalp, almost hypnotic in its comforting rhythm. His eyes fluttered shut as Yeonjun tilted his head up for a better angle, lips parting first this time, even before the Spirit could ask if it was okay. As Taehyun let his body lead, for once pushing away the tendency to overthink, to overanalyze, he let his hands rest on the Spirit’s slender waist, fingers sliding up the oversized crimson sweater Yeonjun wore.

A hiss of surprise left Taehyun’s lips as Yeonjun’s nails dug in a little bit at his neck and scalp, and he clapped a hand to the Spirit’s hip. _“I thought you wanted me to fill that thing with our energy,”_ the Sorcerer murmured through their link, drunk on the fearlessness and confidence that surged from Yeonjun into him. _“Or do you want to be filled up with something else?”_

What in the name of Imvaernarho was he SAYING?

Yeonjun stilled above him, and Taehyun could feel a very clear rush of arousal that made him blush harder than he already had been. _“You’re so mouthy,”_ Yeonjun hissed, embarrassment tinging his tone through their Link. _“Why don’t you put it to good use?”_

 _“One of us talks too much and it’s not me,”_ Taehyun muttered, tightening his hands on Yeonjun’s slender waist. He captured the Spirit’s plush lips in another kiss, deepening it as much as he could without letting himself fall prey to the out of body haze that came with kissing Yeonjun, trying to focus on pulling their shared energy out of the pool and into the Symbol of Tiamat. It was difficult; Yeonjun’s kisses were addictive and it was requiring a lot more concentration than he thought to pull from their shared pool.

The Phoenix Spirit smirked as he broke the kiss, instead deciding to focus on biting and marking up the Sorcerer’s neck, delighting in how he made the younger man jump. Taehyun cursed under his breath as his mage hand dropped the collected energy back into the reservoir, and an annoyed growl printed itself into Yeonjun’s ear canal. _“Focus, Taehyunnie.”_

 _“Watch it,”_ Taehyun hissed, feebly trying to keep from having his eyes roll back into his head at the sinful machinations of the Spirit. His head was dangerously close to banging against the headboard and the last thing he needed was either one of his parents (or both) coming upstairs and finding them like this. He could feel Yeonjun suck and bite at his neck, right at his jugular knowing full well that Taehyun would have to wear higher necked shirts for a _while_. The hand that was anchored in his multi-hued hair tightened and Taehyun could feel Yeonjun’s huff of satisfaction against his flushed skin when a low moan tumbled past his lips. _“Knock it off, I’m trying to do this… it’s harder than I thought.”_

_“That’s not the only thing that’s hard.”_

_“I’m going to kill you.”_

_“Ooh, talk dirty to me.”_

_“You fucking… fuck.”_

_“So eloquent.”_

Taehyun realized belatedly that he wasn’t going to be winning this verbal sparring match they were having the way things currently were and he suddenly gripped Yeonjun’s waist tightly, sliding his hands further up and under the Spirit’s sweater; two could play at this game. He added a little bit of magical fire to his fingertips, closely monitoring Yeonjun’s reaction as he slid his hands further up Yeonjun’s sides. He was confident that the fire would only excite, not harm the Phoenix Spirit and Taehyun was quickly proven right when Yeonjun’s lips quickly unlatched from the Sorcerer’s neck in order to moan softly against the dark hickey he’d left.

With the Spirit mollified and pliable in his lap, Taehyun turned his attention to their shared reservoir of energy, scooping up a large amount of their energy - as much as could fit in the mage hand’s palm - and quickly dumped it into the Symbol’s deep grooves. It was crude and could have been done much more elegantly and cleanly, but Taehyun was having a tough time focusing with a writhing Spirit in his lap.

Both of them pulled back from the other as the effects of the unorthodox energy transfer hit like a freight train. The screaming and rage from Tiamat was silenced, and the only thing they could hear, the only thing they could feel … was each other. The silence was almost intoxicating, the release of pressure on the cores of their very being was euphoric. The bonded Sorcerer and Spirit looked at each other in surprise, relief evident both on their faces and through their Link.

“That’s it,” Taehyun breathed. “I can’t hear her. — Can you?”

“No,” Yeonjun confirmed, shaking his head. “I can’t believe it … it’s never been this quiet. This is incredible, you’re a fucking genius —”

Just as quickly as they had celebrated a light at the end of the tunnel, the energy that had been placed in the pool burned up, and there was a certifiable rumble through the Symbol’s deep grooves. “Fuck!” Taehyun cursed, his eyes narrowing as the Dragoness’ fury reached new heights at the temporary blockage. “We need to find… we need to get the Symbol to somehow get connected to that shared pool. It has to constantly flow into it if we’re gonna do this.” He looked up at Yeonjun. “Do you want… what are we going to do? The Bond ends at midnight.”

“…what, are you talking about permanently bonding?” Yeonjun asked, his expression unreadable. Anxiousness coursed through their Link, and Taehyun felt fidgety - not only because of their Link but because Yeonjun was still straddling his hips.

Taehyun’s brows furrowed in confusion. “Yeah, isn’t that where we’re going with this? What are you going to do when the Bond expires tonight?”

“It’s going to be enough time that I’ll have a good chunk of reserve energy, so we’re not going to do a damn thing until we can figure out a way to make that transfer permanent,” Yeonjun answered, expression hardening.

“Wh - the rate at which you burn through energy, that’s just asking for trouble!” Taehyun exclaimed. “Even if you have, say, 60%, if you burned through 25% as fast as you did… hyung, listen to me - now that your body’s gotten used to having a proper energy conduit, it’s going to burn more energy because it _can_.”

Yeonjun’s dual coloured eyes narrowed, distracting the younger man from the realization that their eyes matched the way Jungkook and Taehyung’s looked. “I’ll bond when I’m good and ready,” he said steadily. “This was just a test run.”

Taehyun frowned; what was his _problem?_ All that aggressive searching and now he was hesitant? What the hell. “I understand, but—”

“We’re not bonding without my consent unless I’m dying!” Yeonjun spat, hackles raised. “Quit badgering me!”

“You’re pretty freaking demanding for someone who’s still sitting in my lap,” Taehyun shot back, Yeonjun’s defensiveness and embarrassment heightening his own. With a growl of irritation, Yeonjun swung his leg off and sat as far away as he could from Taehyun. Taehyun rolled his eyes and grabbed Yeonjun’s hand, twining their fingers together. “Idiot,” he muttered. “We need the skinship while we’re like this.”

Yeonjun grumbled irritably. “I liked it better when you were quiet.”

Taehyun snorted. “I could say the same for you.”

The rest of the night was unbelievably awkward, and Taehyun realized that he would get through any kind of torture if it meant that he didn’t have to go through another dinner having to explain in excruciating detail to his family the Bond he had with Yeonjun (and why he suddenly was wearing a different, higher-necked shirt). As much as he enjoyed talking in extreme detail about magical eccentricities, it was a certain kind of Hell when it involved himself and the Spirit sitting beside him and…whatever the hell they were to each other. As much as Yeonjun had said they wouldn’t bond with each other until he explicitly said so, he hadn’t mentioned a goddamn thing about them making out on Taehyun’s bed.

“Has anyone ever modified the spiritual energy reservoir?” Namjoon asked, tilting his head. “Usually they’re automatically modified through the Bond to what both the Sorcerer and Spirit need.”

Yoongi jerked a thumb towards Yeonjun and Taehyun. “We’re not dealing with a typical bond, though. The kid figured out that they can block Tiamat’s influence by putting their shared energy and _only_ their shared energy in this thing.” He tapped a finger to Taehyun’s sketch of what both he and Yeonjun saw in their Mind’s Eye. “Problem is they need to be bonded for an extended period of time to work on it and they themselves need to do it. We can only speculate.”

Quietly, as she pet her Spirit’s furry head, Elessaria hummed in agreement. “The theory is sound, however; the energy flow to the Symbol needs to be constant, otherwise it would be all too easy for Tiamat to bend them to her will. Of the Elder Gods, she’s the one most likely to use those ‘blessed’ with her power to wreak havoc.”

Seokjin rubbed his forehead as he looked down at the sketch. He glanced towards the pair of young men, watching them carefully before casting his gaze back down to the notebook. “It can be done with _Meteor Swarm_ ,” he said finally. “But Taehyun’s not strong enough yet to cast it. I was going to teach him this when he turned 21, however… we don’t have that kind of time. It wouldn’t be fair to either him or Yeonjun if we waited.”

Jungkook’s eyes widened and he sat forward. “ _Meteor Swarm?_ Hyung, that’s… that’s overkill, isn’t it?”

“It has to break through the ‘stone’ that separates that Symbol from the Magic Pool. That ‘stone’ is made by the Sorcerer’s natural magic, by the Spirit’s natural magic. Only something with brute force strength of _Meteor Swarm_ can possibly break it and keep it broken long enough to have the magical energy flow to the Symbol and _stay_ there,” Seokjin explained carefully. “Casting it _internally_ is another obstacle, but it’s been done.” He glanced over at Jungkook. “We’ve done it before.”

The younger Jeon sibling’s eyes showed intense confusion for a moment before they widened as the memory came flooding back. “I _forgot_ about that!” he said in quiet wonder. He looked over at Taehyung. “Do you remember? When Seokjin-hyung fought Elessaria-noona’s former suitor and he sustained that injury post duel?”

Taehyung’s eyes clouded in the same level of confusion before the memory hit him too. “Ah! That’s right; we had to cast _Firestorm_ inside of Jin-hyung’s body to heal the damage and replenish his stores.”

“What the hell goes on in this family?” Yeonjun asked Taehyun, his tone and expression incredulous.

The youngest Sorcerer rubbed his neck. “It’s one of life’s great mysteries,” Taehyun muttered in response.

“Taehyun-ah,” Seokjin said, catching his nephew’s attention immediately with his tone; Seokjin was usually jovial and joking, but when he was serious, everyone paid attention. “You and I are going to be training as soon as you finish your coursework until you go to bed. I don’t know how long it will take for you to get strong enough to cast _Meteor Swarm_ , so that will largely depend on your progress.”

Quickly, Taehyun nodded. “Understood.”

Taehyung turned toward Yeonjun. “While they’re doing that, I’ll help you increase your own strength. It’s going to require _both_ you and Taehyun working together in near perfect sync in order to cast that with your combined power and break the divide.”

_“You need to tell them that you’re not planning on extending the bond. They’re all operating under that assumption.”_

_“I don’t need to tell them anything.”_

_“How do you expect to have the energy to train with Father and not have it blow up in your face?”_

_“Mind your own business, Jeon.”_

_“You’re my business, Choi. But fine, dig that hole for yourself. I’ll grab the rope to pull you out when this inevitably blows up in your face.”_

~ * ~

The next couple of weeks passed by in a blur for Yeonjun and Taehyun, a frenetic mixture of assignments, tests, prep work for their project, and every other spare minute was spent getting put through the literal wringer by Seokjin and Taehyung. The bond expired three weeks ago and despite keeping as close an eye as he could on the Spirit, Taehyun couldn’t keep as close an eye as he wanted while he was getting his face pounded into the dirt by his Uncle.

It was obvious that they hadn’t rebonded, their eyes had returned to their normal colouring, but no one had said anything about it. Taehyun figured that the heightened sense of urgency around their training was because they hadn’t bonded and the countdown to when Yeonjun would require energy was their deadline. There was no way no one didn’t know - everyone in _Third Eye’s Crown_ was way too smart to miss something so obvious.

Taehyun groaned as he rubbed his neck as he hauled his sore self into the lecture hall, bleary eyed. He had been making a lot of progress with Seokjin, and his Uncle had taken that to mean to go to full tilt the night before and do the first test of casting _Meteor Swarm_ out in the mountainous ranges outside the city. They’d gotten in late, and Taehyun had only a few scant hours of sleep, way under five which had usually been his cut-off.

He was definitely not the condition he should be in to make a lesson presentation to a class of his peers. Taehyn looked around as the hall filled up, and his brows furrowed; Yeonjun wasn’t there. He looked at his phone, no messages from Yeonjun and their chat log was filled with Taehyun’s messages and no responses back. Sighing, Taehyun rubbed his forehead and leaned his head back against the wall, closing his eyes; hopefully Yeonjun didn’t overdo it and had to call in sick.

The sound of sneakers heavily hitting the stairs as someone ran up them broke him out of his sleepy daze, Taehyun recognizing the pace as Beomgyu’s. Opening his eyes, Taehyun immediately sat up; there was no sense of fun or joking in Beomgyu’s face, but overwhelming panic. “What’s wrong?” the Fire Sorcerer asked, all the sleep evaporating out of him.

“We can’t find Yeonjun-hyung,” Beomgyu said, breathless. “He didn’t come back to Soobin-hyung’s place last night and he hasn’t been answering the phone. We’re trying to look everywhere for him. — He’s not with you?”

Taehyun shook his head. “No, I’ve been trying to get a hold of him too.” Quickly, Taehyun got up and grabbed his backpack, slinging it over his shoulders. “I’ll help you look. Where have you guys checked already?”

“We checked around hyung’s apartment and the route they’d normally take to campus,” Beomgyu answered, counting off on his fingers. “Soobin-hyung and Kai are checking Yeonjun-hyung’s usual hangouts, but no one’s seen him.”

“I have an idea,” Taehyun said as he pressed his palms together and began to mutter an incantation. Wisps of fire sparked in his hands, swirling around his clasped hands before coalescing into a small bird. “Find Yeonjun-hyung.”

The bird, seemingly with its own sentience, chirped and flapped its fire wings and took off. Taehyun shared a look with Beomgyu and nodded, the two of them taking off after the bird while the older of the two sent a text to Soobin and Kai to track his phone and meet up with them. The bird let out a warning chirp and banked left, going towards one of the duelling auditoriums. Both Taehyun and Beomgyu shot each other an anxious look; they both had as sinking feeling as to why Yeonjun would be in this area.

“Maybe he won’t be there…” Beomgyu muttered, pulling out his phone and sending an updated text to Soobin and Kai that they heading to Duelling Auditorium 310, the same one that Taehyun defeated Cho Daesung in at the beginning of the semester.

“This is a tracking spell honed to his energy,” Taehyun explained, though he knew exactly the sentiment that Beomgyu was going through; he was on the same page. “Shit, there he is!”

“Taehyun!”

“Beomgyu-hyung!”

All at once, the four young men arrived inside the Duelling Auditorium and as Kai opened the door, barrelled inside. “Yeonjun-hyung! Are you—” the young Wizard’s call was cut off as they came upon Yeonjun, lying face down and bloodied in the middle of the duelling floor. The area around him was scorched and burnt, and as the boys cast cursory glances around the room, it was clear something massive happened there.

“Yeonjun-hyung!” Soobin said urgently, carefully turning Yeonjun over with Beomgyu’s help. “Is he—”

“He’s alive, but just barely,” Taehyun interrupted, frowning. “The tracking spell wouldn’t have worked if he died.”

Kai reached into his bag for a little packet of tissues, tearing it open and cleaning off Yeonjun’s face. “Hyung! Can you hear us? Hyung!”

“…ngh?” Yeonjun was barely conscious, his eyes a dull yellow, his hair brittle and a faded pastel pink. His skin was glassy and pale, his chest rising and falling so faintly that it was even more worrying than his surface level wounds.

“Shit, we need to get him to the Infirmary,” Soobin cursed.

“—There’s no time!” Taehyun interjected, shaking his head. “There’s nothing left in his energy reserves and his body is burning itself up to keep itself going; if we waste the time moving him, he’s going to … it’s not going to be good.”

Beomgyu frowned at him. “Then what are we going to do? — can’t you give him your energy?”

( _“We’re not bonding without my consent unless I’m dying!”_ )

Taehyun looked down at the Phoenix Spirit, his jaw tightening. “I would, if it would do anything. Since his body’s basically cannibalizing itself, a normal energy transfer, even at like, 50 or 60%, is going to evaporate in an instant; I give more than that and _I’m_ in trouble. There’s only one other way.” He swallowed and took Yeonjun’s right hand, holding it tightly. “Yeonjun-hyung, can you hear me?”

“yer…s’fucking…loud…”

Fighting the urge to roll his eyes, Taehyun squeezed Yeonjun’s hand again. “Listen to me, Yeonjun-hyung! I, Jeon Taehyun, from the bloodline of the Eternal Fire of the Red Dragon Imvaernarho, do _permanently bond_ with you, Igniria of the Blue Flame of Tiamat until such time that either one of us ends it, full autonomy is granted.”

Soobin’s eyes widened. “Taehyun, you—”

“I invoke _Laeral’s Caveat!_ ” Taehyun said firmly, his Sorcerer’s Mark glowing brightly at the invocation.

He could feel Soobin tense beside him and in truth, Taehyun was also scared shitless: _Laeral’s Caveat_ was not something to be invoked lightly as it was an override to a Spirit’s Consent to Bond. It was only to be used in extreme circumstances where the Spirit’s life was in danger. Use of _Laeral’s Caveat_ was highly monitored by the Council, and in a place like SNU where there was a Magical Studies program, Taehyun knew they’d be on him in an instant. He knew that his family would be stunned and likely upset with him for being so reckless, but he didn’t care.

The only thing on his mind was saving Yeonjun.

In an instant, fire burst from Taehyun’s Sorcerer Mark, encircling Yeonjun’s right wrist as it branded his Mark right at the Spirit’s pulse point. Taehyun let out a hiss of pain as the dam opened, and all his energy barrelled through the opening and into Yeonjun, enveloping the Spirit in his fire. The force of which caused the young Sorcerer to hunch over, his hand never once letting go of the Spirit’s as a maelstrom of energy swirled inside them both, the tumultuous energy struggling to find its equilibrium.

As quickly as it happened, the burst of activity settled, like a fire that had burned itself out as sudden as it started. Soobin, Kai, and Beomgyu shared a horrified look and descended upon Taehyun and Yeonjun. “What the hell happened!?” Soobin demanded.

“It worked,” Taehyun whispered, still hunched over Yeonjun, watching as colour and life returned to the Phoenix. “It worked… It was just… it was just in time… fuck. He was so close to dying if I didn’t …” His head hung low, a silent exhale of relief and a near sob escaping him as the adrenaline faded. The fear of losing Yeonjun… it was so visceral and piercing that Taehyun nearly fainted from relief when he saw the Spirit regain his life energy. “He’s going to be so pissed at me.”

“But you saved his life,” Kai whispered.

Taehyun looked over as Magical Studies faculty poured into the Duelling Auditorium. “Is he going to see it that way?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eep.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If the line between Taehyun and Yeonjun was blurred before, it's now become scorched earth. The question is, can they rise from those ashes?

It was nothing short of an interrogation, but Taehyun had been expecting it. He had been sitting in one of the disciplinary rooms, facing a panel of faculty, answering their questions for what felt like an eternity. His answers never changed, and he didn’t need a Perfect Link with any one of them to see that they weren’t pleased with his responses. The young Fire Sorcererturned as the door opened, his chest tightening as he saw Jungkook and Taehyung at the door’s threshold, both dressed formally in business attire.

“What’s going on here?” Jungkook asked, his dual coloured eyes dark. “You’re not supposed to be questioning him without us present.”

_“How fucking dare you!”_

The Dean’s own eyes narrowed; it was clear he just realized where Taehyun’s attitude came from. “This is a very serious matter, Mr. Jeon, Mr. Kim. Please, have a seat. The notice will have explicitly stated that your son invoked _Laeral’s Caveat_ when permanently bonding with a Spirit.”

Taehyung’s brows furrowed. “Which Spirit?”

“…Igniria,” one of the Faculty replied tersely.

_“Tell these assholes to let me out!”_

Jungkook and Taehyung shared a look before taking a seat on either side of Taehyun. “What happened, Taehyun?” Jungkook asked, ignoring the faculty’s attempt to steer the conversation in the direction they wanted.

Taehyun looked up from his staring contest with the floor. It had been hard to keep his focus and temper down; Yeonjun was furious and so was Tiamat, the combined anger and rage funnelling through their Perfect Link making Taehyun feel like his head was being hit by Thor’s Hammer to the beat of Big Bang’s _Fantastic Baby_ on repeat. “I was sitting in Intro to Magic Theory, waiting for it to start… Yeonjun-hyung hadn’t been responding to my texts since…” He looked at his phone. “Like the last message I got from him was at 5:17 p.m. Beomgyu burst in and said he, Soobin-hyung and Kai couldn’t find hyung, so I went with to help. I used Uncle Jin’s firebird tracker spell and we found him in Duelling Auditorium 310.” Taehyun had repeated this so many times, it felt like he was reciting a script.

_“That fucking asshole Cho Daesung did this!”_

“Yeonjun-hyung was face down on the centre of the arena floor, and everything had been blown to smithereens. No one else was around. His… his power reserve was gone and his body was eating itself from the inside out to power itself. Soobin-hyung said we should take him to the Infirmary but he was gonna die inside of five minutes; there was no way we’d get him out of the room in time.” Blinking blearily, Taehyun rubbed his eyes with his tattooed hand. “I knew from our previous bonding that the max transfer of 60% of my energy wouldn’t work, so I bonded with him.”

Taehyung listened carefully and nodded. “What were the terms, Taehyun?”

_“Yes, what were the terms that you forcibly bound me by, Jeon?”_

“I, Jeon Taehyun, from the bloodline of the Eternal Fire of the Red Dragon Imvaernarho, do permanently bond with you, Igniria of the Blue Flame of Tiamat until such time that either one of us ends it, full autonomy is granted,” Taehyun recited dutifully. “I invoked _Laeral’s Caveat_ right afterwards so he could use my full Energy Pool right away; if I’d waited even a second longer, he’d have died.”

The Dean’s lips pursed. “Use of _Laeral’s Caveat_ is strictly forbidden under the current laws, Mr. Jeon.”

Taehyun’s eyes flicked up, defiant even as exhausted as he was with Yeonjun pulling more energy than he needed to as he raged in the containment cell. “It’s only to be used when the Spirit’s life was in danger and Yeonjun-hyung’s life was,” he replied evenly. “Are you implying that you’d rather I leave him to die on school grounds, Dean Jeong? If Yeonjun-hyung wants to break the bond, he has full autonomy to. I did what needed to be done to save his life. I’m not changing my story because it’s the truth.”

_“Well aren’t you just the paragon of virtue, Jeon Taehyun? What do you want, a gold medal? I can’t believe you’d bond to me while I was out cold! You’re a real piece of work.”_

Slowly, Taehyun lowered his head and clenched his hands into fists, digging his nails into his palms in a vain attempt to focus on something that wasn’t the vicious waves of betrayal coursing through his Link with Yeonjun, that wasn’t Tiamat’s fury at being ignored, at having her Phoenix bonded to a piece of shit Sorcerer like Taehyun. He could feel hot tears pool at the corners of his eyes, quickly blurring his vision as he uselessly blinked them away. Taehyun shifted, almost flinging the tears off his face as he raised his head to look at the panel in front of him.

He deserved all of Yeonjun’s anger.

He’d shoulder all of it.

_“Get me out of here! I’m going to kick your ass!”_

Jungkook and Taehyung both grasped one of Taehyun’s hand in one of theirs, squeezing it and holding it warmly. Carefully, Jungkook took out a black handkerchief and wiped the tears away, pressing a kiss to his son’s temple. “You did what you had to do, Bun,” he said softly. “He was going to die otherwise.”

Dean Jeong’s eyes widened. “You _condone_ this, Mr. Jeon?”

“Yeah, I do,” Jungkook replied sharply, turning his full attention to the Dean and Faculty, the intensity of his stare causing them to jump. “We’ve been supervising Yeonjun and Taehyun closely because they share a Perfect Link, but due to Yeonjun’s nature as a Spirit, it required some additional, unconventional solutions that we were in the midst of working out. He consumes too much energy because of Tiamat’s Flame, and we needed to find a way for him to survive that didn’t involve constant energy transfusions. Taehyun would know this.”

_“You don’t know SHIT, Jeon! I told you I didn’t want this!”_

“Moreover, we’ve taught him the importance of invoking _Laeral’s Caveat_ ,” Taehyung added, his expression severe. “Neither myself nor Jungkook appreciate the implication that we’ve taught our son to disrespect a Spirit’s autonomy. Of course we would wish that things worked out differently, but in a matter of the Spirit’s life or the Spirit’s death, that is when _Laeral’s Caveat_ is deemed reasonably invoked.”

Jungkook squeezed Taehyun’s hand. “If you need us to testify to the High Council, we will. Not only us, but Min Yoongi, Kim Namjoon, Jeon Elessaria and Jeon Seokjin will too. I think the Council will be interested in hearing from these notable Sorcerers, don’t you?”

Briefly, a smirk creased Taehyung’s lips; Jungkook rarely name dropped, but when he did, he picked his spots for maximum impact.

_“JEON TAEHYUN.”_

Taehyun frowned, struggling to keep his vision clear and and in focus. Instinctively, he squeezed Jungkook and Taehyung’s hands very tightly before his grip suddenly slackened and he fell into unconsciousness; he was no match for Yeonjun and Tiamat’s combined fury.

“Bun!” Jungkook exclaimed, catching his son before he face planted against the table. He looked up at Taehyung. “I can handle this, but you should probably go and find Yeonjunie. He’s probably the reason Taehyun fainted.”

Concern coloured Taehyung’s handsome features and he nodded gravely. “Yes, you’re right. Taehyun’s never had a history of fainting; it must be Yeonjun’s fury coming through their Link. With Tiamat’s influence, there’s no way Taehyun would be able to handle both of them at once like that.” He turned to the Dean. “Where is Igniria being held?”

“Hold on just a moment!” the Dean said sharply. “What makes you think that you are authorized to know where he is?”

Taehyung’s eyes darkened but he remained as calm and composed as ever. “How many times have you had to move him from room to room because he’s burned them down?” he asked simply. “If you do not allow me to help him, while he’s upset and scared, then you will have more rooms to rebuild and possibly, suspend the entire program while this end of the school is rebuilt.”

“Is that a _threat?_ ” the Dean demanded.

“It’s a prediction,” Jungkook explained, carefully holding Taehyun against him. “I think I saw those kids outside, his friends - they’d know where Yeonjunie is.”

Taehyung nodded. “You’re right.” He bowed respectfully to the faculty. “Please excuse me.” With not another word to the Dean nor the Faculty, Taehyung turned on his heel and left the room, finding Kai and Beomgyu not-so-subtly hiding behind the corner. “Kai? Beomgyu? Do you know where Igniria — sorry, Yeonjun — do you know where they’re keeping him?”

“Mr. Kim!” Beomgyu exclaimed, straightening up. “Yeah, he’s with Soobin-hyung in one of the elemental containment rooms - it’s where the senior level students try and manipulate elementals in their raw form. He’s burned through like four rooms already so they put him in the highest security one.”

Kai frowned. “They made all the Water/Ice Sorcerers and Fire Sorcerers from the program take turns keeping him secured in there. It’s not working, though.”

The Spirit known as Jujak sighed. “No, it wouldn’t… not when he has Taehyun’s power to draw from now. Let’s go; there’s no time to waste.”

The two young men nodded and quickly took off with Taehyung hot on their heels, leading the Spirit towards the upper floors where Yeonjun was being held. Standing outside the room was a tall third year with silvery white hair and piercing blue eyes, his arms folded elegantly against his chest while he spoke with a red-haired young man around his age. They looked over at the sound of running, the redhead’s eyes widening at the sight.

“My name is Kim Taehyung,” Taehyung said, inclining his head. “I am a Phoenix Spirit, known as Jujak the Vermillion; I need to see Igniria immediately before he burns this room down as well.”

“…Park Seonghwa,” the tall boy with silver hair replied evenly. He inclined his head to his friend. “This is Kim Hongjoong, we were asked by the Dean to keep an eye on Choi Yeonjun.”

Hongjoong rubbed his neck. “I think we should let him in, Hwa. Another Phoenix Spirit might be the only thing that’s going to get through to that kid. We’re sure as hell not getting anywhere.”

Seonghwa sighed and nodded. “I agree. Choi Soobin is in there with him, but I don’t think he’s been successful in getting him to calm down. — stand back and stand ready; I’m going to open the door. Mr. Kim? You’ll need to run in as soon as the door’s opened. We can’t risk Igniria getting out right now.”

“I understand,” Taehyung said with a quick nod. “Whatever happens in there, I need you four to stay out here.”

Seonghwa nodded. “Understood; no argument here. — Joong?”

“I’ve got you covered,” Hongjoong confirmed with a nod. “Now!”

It happened so quickly - Seonghwa removed the seal of never melting ice on the lock, while Hongjoong had a fire-eating spell ready to counter any sort of attack from Yeonjun. Taehyung was as quick as a flash bang, disappearing inside the room as soon as it was opened. Immediately after Taehyung was inside, Hongjoong and Seonghwa slammed the door shut, reapplying the lock of ice. Kai and Beomgyu rushed to the monitor at the side of the door, reaching it just in time to see Taehyung effortlessly shift into his Spirit form and slam Yeonjun against the nearest surface, the force of which knocked Soobin off his feet as well.

Jujak shifted back to his human form, his forearm pressing tightly to Yeonjun’s neck, his dual-coloured eyes flashing with intent. “You need to calm down,” Taehyung said lowly, his already deep voice rough with the exertion. “This isn’t going to get you anywhere except a higher security containment cell.”

Yeonjun growled softly, letting out a choked snarl when Taehyung pressed his forearm a bit tighter against the younger Spirit’s throat. Realizing quite quickly that he was overpowered and had no chance to fight against Jujak even with his newly acquired power, Yeonjun settled down, his eyes still ablaze with defiance. Taehyung kept the young Phoenix pinned to the wall, but released the pressure on his throat. “You know what he did,” Yeonjun hissed.

“He saved your life,” Taehyung answered simply.

“He did it without my consent!” Yeonjun yelled, eyes flaring.

Taehyung shook his head. “Yes, he did but the terms state you’re free to break it whenever you wanted. He had to invoke _Laeral’s Caveat_ so you could get access to all of his power without a filter. I understand the feeling of betrayal, Igniria. I know how you feel. It’s valid, and I understand… but please… please be open to hearing his side.”

Soobin pushed himself up to his feet, having been staying down seated on the floor in case a fight broke out between the two Spirits. “Is Taehyun okay? They wouldn’t let us see him when they took him away to be questioned.”

“They’re still questioning him, but Jungkook is with him,” Taehyung replied, keeping Yeonjun’s gaze pinned. “When he fainted, however, I came here with Beomgyu and Kai to see Igniria myself.”

“He _fainted?_ ” Soobin echoed.

“…Yes,” Taehyung confirmed. “We believe it’s because of Igniria’s current emotional state and Tiamat’s … _usual_ state. He’s not strong enough to withstand an onslaught from both Igniria and Tiamat like that.”

Yeonjun’s eyes narrowed. “I respect you a lot, Jujak-nim, but this doesn’t involve you.”

That was the wrong thing to say.

Taehyung’s expression darkened considerably as thick ribbons of black-tipped fire curled around his body, the fire actually causing snaps of pain to Yeonjun’s skin where it touched, startling the younger Phoenix. “This _does_ involve me, because it’s _my son_ you’ve bonded with and as much as I might be regretting it right now, I do feel a certain fondness for you, Igniria.”

“I didn’t _want_ to bond with your _son_ ,” Yeonjun spat, jaw clenched. “I _told him that_ , and he _did it anyway_.”

Soobin frowned. “Yeonjun-hyung, you were _dying_.”

“…and that’s what you’re really mad about, isn’t it?” Taehyung asked softly, though his words carried with them the weight of experience and a razor-sharp intuition. “You were challenged by a Sorcerer or you challenged one yourself, and you lost. Adding insult to injury, you had to be saved by someone you have complicated feelings about. You have the energy you so desperately needed, but you had no say in how you got it.”

Finally, Yeonjun stopped fussing and loosened his grip on Taehyung’s suited arm, prompting the elder Phoenix to release him and rescind his black-tipped flame. “Do you have mind-reading powers or something?” he muttered, glancing away.

“Surprisingly, no,” Taehyung said with a small smile, releasing the younger Spirit. “What happened, Igniria?”

Yeonjun rubbed his throat sulkily before raking his long fingers through his vibrant pink hair. “Cho Daesung challenged me to another duel. He said that we would bond if I lost and I said fine; if he wasn’t going to learn when both me and Jeon kicked his ass separately, maybe this would finally get it into his thick skull. But that asshole _cheated_ ; he had a spell gem with _Mordekainen’s Breath_ in it.”

Taehyung’s eyes widened. “ _What?_ That’s…” He glanced over at Soobin, who seemed confused by the whole thing. “ _Mordekainen’s Breath_ is an illegal spell that actively sucks out magical energy to the point that the target’s completely drained. Because of its potency and no positive use for it, the Council across the board has kept it on the illegal list.”

“But … there was no bonding mark on your wrist when we found you,” Soobin said, frowning. “If he beat you, how come he didn’t bond to you?”

Yeonjun frowned, loosely crossing his arms. It was distracting - not Tiamat’s voice, he was used to that - but the lack of _active_ response from Taehyun; all the Spirit could feel was the unfiltered insecurity and fear, the guilt and the shame from the Sorcerer that no longer had anything holding it back. “He thought he killed me, I think. He freaked out and ran.”

Taehyung snorted. “A fine, upstanding young man.” He paused, and looked over at the younger Spirit. “How do you feel now?”

Absently, Yeonjun rubbed at his right wrist where Taehyun’s Mark lay branded to the underside, looking as if it always belonged there. “Physically I’m fine. No, better than fine. I feel like I can burn this whole damn place to the ground.”

“Seems like you’ve gotten a head start on that,” Taehyung replied flatly.

Yeonjun at least had the grace to look sheepish as he rubbed his neck. “But… Jeon … Taehyun, he’s…” He grumbled, shaking his head and looking put upon by the whole ordeal. “What kind of burned out gifted kid shit is going on with him, though?”

Confused, Taehyung tilted his head. “What are you talking about?”

“He completely falls apart when something happens that he doesn’t immediately know how to deal with it,” Yeonjun replied, raking a hand through his hair. “Like the concept of winging it and figuring it out as he goes is so foreign his brain shuts down when he has to.”

Soobin frowned. “It’s… not that big of a mystery, is it? He talks about how proud he is of his family and the Shop all the time, about how his Dad and Father defeated a powerful Sorcerer when they were his age. That’s … a pretty big legacy to carry. Even after he beat Cho Daesung in 15 minutes, it just put more of a rep on him.”

Taehyung was silent as he listened to the pair of young men talk, putting it against what he’d been noticing for years with his son. “Igniria.”

“Eh - yes, Jujak-nim?” Yeonjun asked, startled out of his conversation with Soobin.

“This is all… hmm, not irrelevant, but we’re missing the bigger issue here,” Taehyung started, loosely folding his arms. “How do you feel about being bonded to Taehyun?”

Yeonjun fell silent and Taehyung watched as the younger Spirit rubbed his wrist, his expression thoughtful. “I wouldn’t break the bond,” he said finally. “But we’re both fucked - pardon my language, Jujak-nim - if we don’t fix this thing with the Symbol. Everything else is… you get to that when you get to it. But that? We’re both going to go nuts before too long. Tiamat’s influence is getting stronger the more she realizes we’re bonded for good.”

Taehyung nodded slowly in agreement. “That much we can agree on. Whatever is going on between you and Taehyun, that’s for the two of you to work out; it’s up to the Sorcerer and the Spirit to find that balance.”

“At least now with the Bond you won’t have to worry about running out of energy,” Soobin said, running a hand through his icy blue hair. He smiled, relieved. “I’m really happy for you, hyung.” He pulled the Spirit into a tight hug, holding him close enough to whisper, “I think you two would be really good influences on one another. You can get him to loosen up and he can vibe-check you a bit.”

Surprised by Soobin’s gesture of affection, Yeonjun’s shoulders lowered a bit and he hugged his friend back just as tightly. When he had said that Soobin saved him, it hadn’t been some sort of exaggeration: when he had broken away from Tiamat, had severed the physical tie he had with the Mother of All Dragons, she hadn’t taken it lightly. Tiamat had stripped him of his power, cursed him with an over-reliance on _her_ power, and branded him; there would be no mistaking who Yeonjun belonged to. Without a plan in mind or even a thought as to how he was going to survive, Yeonjun broke away and spirited himself into the city from Tiamat’s temple high in the mountains.

In all honesty, Yeonjun wouldn’t be able to tell Taehyung, tell Taehyun or anyone how he escaped, how he ended up running through the streets of Seoul. Or how he ended up running into a young, introverted water/ice Sorcerer who had been sneaking away from his house to practice his magic alone away from his overbearing, extroverted family. All he remembered was making a promise with Choi Soobin that together, they were going to find their way through the turbulent, stuffy and traditional yet wildly progressive world of magic with the other as back-up.

Soobin risked everything to help Yeonjun, and Yeonjun risked everything to protect Soobin when it came to his family.

“You’re really my brother, you know that?” Soobin said quietly. “You deserve to have your mind be _yours_ , to live how _you_ want. More than anything, I hope you can do that now.”

“D…Don’t get emotional on me,” Yeonjun muttered, still holding onto him tightly. “And it’s not like I’m a woman in 1507 and you’re never going to see me again as I’m shuttled off to my husband’s house.” He flicked his best friend directly on the forehead and smiled. Soobin’s brows furrowed together in mock indignation, but he smiled back and hugged Yeonjun one more time before pulling away, the pair turning to face Taehyung.

The elder Phoenix Spirit was on his phone, in a deep conversation with the person on the other line. “He’s regained consciousness? That’s good.” Taehyung paused and tilted his head slightly, his dual-coloured eyes widening almost comically. “Yoongi-hyung’s giving them an earful because he caught wind the establishment is punishing Taehyun for going against the grain? Oh by the Gods… — Yes, of course, I’m bringing them back now. I’ll see you in a bit, JK.”

Soobin blinked slowly. “Is… everything okay?”

Taehyung rubbed his neck as he slipped his phone into the inside breast pocket of his suit jacket. “Do you ever wonder where Taehyun gets his anti-school system rhetoric from? It’s from his Uncle Yoongi and right now he’s reading the Dean and the Faculty the riot act for interrogating his nephew for doing what needed to be done. We better get back down there before he stages a coup.”

Yeonjun stared. “That… explains so much and yet nothing at all.”

“That… kind of explains our household,” Taehyung said with a little sigh. He walked over to the door and knocked on it, getting Seonghwa’s attention. He made a gesture for the younger Sorcerer to open the door and stepped back.

“…everything okay in here?” Hongjoong asked, poking his head in first.

Taehyung nodded. “Thank you for your help. I’m going to be taking Igniria and we’re going to hash this out once and for all. Don’t worry, I’ll take the brunt of this; neither of the two of you should see any disciplinary action.”

Surprised, Hongjoong and Seonghwa looked at each other before nodding and bowing respectfully to the Spirit. “Sounds good to us,” Hongjoong said, stepping back as he opened the door the full way. “We’ll take care of things up here.”

“Not the first time we’ve had to play dumb,” Seonghwa said with a chuckle. “At least it’s for a good cause this time and not San and Wooyoung getting up to trouble.”

“Thank you, both of you.” Taehyung nodded back and gestured for Kai and Beomgyu to follow him back down to where Jungkook, Taehyun and apparently Yoongi were. For a moment, Taehyung wondered if he looked like a mother duck with a trail of ducklings following behind them as he glanced over his shoulder to the younger men behind him. A smile creased his lips as both Beomgyu and Kai were hanging off Yeonjun, eagerly talking to him and hugging him every chance they got.

Igniria had found his own family, like Taehyung had with his own 16 years ago.

When Taehyung opened the door to the meeting room, he was unsurprised to see that Yoongi was still going, engaged in a filibuster against the Dean and the Faculty, while Jungkook and Taehyun watched, the latter wide-eyed and holding Changkyun in his cat form on his lap. Sitting beside them and evidently having given up trying to stop his husband was Namjoon, who was watching with a fond look on his face. 

“All right, give them a break, hyung,” Taehyung interrupted with a chuckle. “We need to hear Igniria’s side of the story. I’ve brought the other three witnesses as well; we need as accurate of an account as possible. A decision can’t be made regarding Taehyun’s conduct without it.”

The Dean, who was positively beside himself but as he was being watched very carefully by Elessaria, grit his teeth and nodded. “Yes, it seems so.” He gestured with his head to Yeonjun. “Choi Yeonjun, I trust you’re stable enough to participate in this?”

“Yes,” Yeonjun confirmed. “I’m not going to waste anybody’s time: Cho Daesung was the one that challenged me and used _Mordekainen’s Breath_ on me. That’s why I was half-dead and that’s why Taehyun did what he did.” He looked over at Taehyun, who was watching him with guilt written all over his face. “He saved my life.”

“—and just in case that guy paid off someone to wipe the security footage or something, I have the spell gem!” Kai interrupted, pulling out a clear container glass from his backpack. “Beomgyu-hyung and I went back to check the arena after hyung was taken and we found this. Seems like it got missed.”

Yoongi snorted. “Real tight ship you’re running here, Dean Jeong.”

“It can be easily discerned who the owner of a Spell Gem is,” Namjoon interjected, “there’s no way to remove residual magical energy if they infused the gem with a spell.”

Jungkook nodded. “There you go. You can do the test yourself so you can make sure we didn’t corrupt it in some way.”

“I’m beginning to see why this family is so _infamous_ ,” one of the faculty muttered.

“No one well behaved ever makes history,” Yoongi replied with a smirk.

Despite not wanting to do it at all, but as he was being watched by several highly influential Sorcerers as well as a number of his Students, the Dean performed the track test on the Spell Gem, the colour draining from his face when it was confirmed that the magical energy residue inside the Gem belonged to Cho Daesung.

“There’s a lot of witnesses here,” Elessaria murmured from where she was standing, leaning against the wall. “No way to cover this up under the… _suggestion_ of the Cho Family, ne, Dean Jeong?”

“They’re not going to be happy about this,” the Dean said, his eyes narrowed.

“I would also be unhappy to hear my son nearly murdered a Spirit,” Elessaria replied, her tone calm but sharpened to a razor’s edge. “On top of repeated, nonconsensual attempts to bond with said Spirit, it doesn’t paint a pretty picture.”

Changkyun meowed softly and nuzzled under Taehyun’s chin, licking his cheek when the young Sorcerer looked down at him. “I’m okay,” Taehyun said softly. “It’s just hard to think… still a little nauseous; I wish _someone_ didn’t drink all my water.” Changkyun huffed and looked away, unrepentant.

“We’re all willing to make statements that Taehyun did what he had to in order to save Yeonjun-hyung,” Beomgyu spoke up, his expression severe. “We were there the whole time.”

One of the Faculty sighed, rubbing her forehead. “No, it’s clear that these circumstances fall under the exceptions of the rule for usage of _Laeral’s Caveat_. How does a first year Magical Studies student even _know_ about that?”

Taehyun blinked and looked between Jungkook and Taehyung before regarding the Faculty. “…If you still need to ask that despite all of this…” He gestured to his family. “Then I’m not sure what to tell you, Ma’am.” Changkyun snickered and nuzzled Taehyun again, finding this all very amusing.

The Dean snorted. “Very well. No disciplinary action will be levied against Jeon Taehyun for his use of _Laeral’s Caveat_ , though there will be suitable consequences for Choi Yeonjun given the destruction he caused after the duel. All of you are dismissed.”

“What did you _do?_ ” Taehyun asked Yeonjun incredulously.

Soobin sighed. “Destroyed about three containment rooms. They were made to hold raw elementals, but somehow weren’t enough to keep hyung in one spot.”

Namjoon smiled faintly. “Seems like he was making extensive use of Taehyun’s energy.”

“You’re going to have to really keep an eye on this one, Yunie,” Yoongi said as he placed a hand on Taehyun’s shoulder. “Come on; let’s get the hell out of here. The stench of academia is making me wanna hurl.”

“So eloquently said,” Elessaria chuckled as she pushed herself off the wall. “However, as much as you hate academia, these boys still need to go to class.”

Taehyun groaned and leaned back, eyes fluttering shut. “We missed the whole class,” he muttered as he sat back up straight, and held up Changkyun. “Wanna help me BS my way into getting Professor Park to let me and Yeonjun-hyung present late?”

Changkyun meowed at him and licked his cheek, hopping out of his arms and over to Elessaria, seamlessly transforming into his human form, a handsome young man draped in black. He smirked, thoroughly enjoying the shocked looks from those who hadn’t seen his real form before and stretched languidly. “I’m gonna help the little one with his project,” he said to his Sorceress, grinning mischievously.

“How generous,” Elessaria said, amused. “Hmm… Stay here and keep an eye on those two. They’re stubborn enough not to actually ask for help if they need it. If Tiamat tries anything, come and get one of us immediately.” She gently carded her slender fingers through his stylishly cut hair, and lightly tapped his nose. “Be good. I’ll know if you’re not.”

“When am I not?” Changkyun asked, smirking slightly.

“We don’t have enough time for me to get into the full list,” Elessaria replied, smirking back as she gently flicked his forehead. “Keep an eye on them; I don’t trust this administration to not retaliate as far as I could physically throw it.” At Changkyun’s nod, Elessaria nodded back and left, followed closely by Yoongi and Namjoon.

Jungkook smiled a little and turned to Taehyun. “You sure you’re okay to keep going, Bun?”

Slowly, his son nodded. “As much as I’d like to take the change to bounce, I’m fine,” he replied, rubbing his neck. “I think… we should try that … you know, the thing later tonight.” He looked over at Yeonjun. “We shouldn’t wait any longer.”

Jungkook blinked slowly before quickly nodding. “I’ll let Jin-hyung know.” He turned to Taehyung. “If you’re done scaring the crap out of the faculty, Tae, we better get going too.”

Taehyung, who was still side eying the Dean, nodded. He smiled brightly and bowed, giving them a little wave as he joined his husband at the door. “I’m glad we could have this talk, Dean Jeong. Have a good afternoon.”

Quickly taking their cue, the students quickly bowed and left as well, not wanting to stick around for what would inevitably be the most awkward conversation in history. The group of five students – well, six, if one counted Changkyun as a student – walked down the hallway, excitedly chatting with each other. All of them… minus Taehyun. He hung back, blinking slowly as he tried to focus on anything but Tiamat’s influence. The conversation was middling at best, with Kai, Beomgyu and Soobin trying to learn all they could about Changkyun, who seemed as amused as anything to have new admirers.

A slender hand grasped his own, twining their fingers together. Surprised, Taehyun looked up, and caught Yeonjun’s dual-coloured gaze. _“I’m fine. You don’t have to babysit me,”_ he said, trying to keep his gaze pinned forward.

_“How many times do I need to tell you that you can’t lie to me? I feel everything you do. – listen. I’m not mad at you.”_

_“…you should be. You were so adamant that we not bond until you were ready and I—”_

_“—Idiot! You saved my life! I was mad that I couldn’t beat Cho!”_ Yeonjun exclaimed, reflexively holding Taehyun’s hand tighter. _“I took it out on you because… I don’t know. I don’t know why I did. That dragon bitch … it was her.”_

Taehyun snorted. _“Are you saying she made you mad at me?”_

 _“I’m saying that until we block her out for good, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that she can sink her claws in us both and make us act out the worst part of ourselves,”_ Yeonjun replied, sighing. _“You felt it too, didn’t you? She has this way of getting into your head, literally and pulling out the shit you hate about yourself and making you act like it.”_

The Fire Sorcerer fell silent, as he _did_ feel that, from the moment he bonded to Yeonjun in the dueling auditorium to now, all he felt was that everything he hated about himself was the truth. There was nothing anybody could respect him for, he was nothing but a name and nothing to back it up with. If anything happened that he couldn’t find in a book, he fell apart. He liked to think he knew what he was doing, but in reality, Taehyun didn’t know shit. _“…Yeah,”_ he found himself admitting, surprised at the admission. _“But I felt your anger, your betrayal… I’m just… I’m just not going to forget that. You really did feel it and you should’ve. I did something terrible.”_

 _“You don’t have a criminal bone in your body, Jeon,”_ Yeonjun said with a snort. _“Yeah, I’m not thrilled you did that, but I know why you did. If I wasn’t halfway to dying you wouldn’t have done it. Even someone as stubborn as you wouldn’t have done it. And … thank you. You saved my life. I should say it properly.”_

_“Yeonjun-hyung…”_

_“Just stop moping about me being mad at you! I’m not!”_ Yeonjun exploded, embarrassed. _“I’m not good at this pep talk garbage. You … you didn’t do anything wrong. I just… wasn’t expecting you to put yourself out there like that. Goody two-shoes like you.”_

 _“I wasn’t thinking,”_ Taehyun admitted, only vaguely aware of the eyes on them as they entered the lecture hall, right before the next class started. _“The only thing I was thinking about … was how much I wanted to save you.”_

A sudden audible curse ringing out in the lecture hall snapped Taehyun out of his telepathic link with Yeonjun. Instinctively, his arms shot out and he was surprised when he caught Yeonjun seconds before the Spirit faceplanted up the steps. “Fuck,” Yeonjun cursed, his cheeks and face bright red. “I missed a step.”

“…literally or figuratively?” Beomgyu asked, smirking. “You two were making such deep moon-eyes at each other we almost felt bad for interrupting you two with _learning_. I don’t even know if you heard Soobin-hyung say we’ll talk to the Professor after this class or if you were too busy declaring your undying love for one another after such a heart-stopping event.”

Changkyun smirked, not helping matters. “They were speaking into each other’s hearts,” he said, his smirk only getting wider when both Spirit and Sorcerer sputtered indignantly. “You shouldn’t tease soulmates, Beomgyu.”

“We’re not—” Taehyun stopped himself from responding and held up his free hand, shifting to pointing a finger at the black cat spirit. “No. I’m not playing your games, Changkyun.”

The smirk on the Spirit’s lips only widened and he leaned over to pinch and squeeze one of Taehyun’s cheeks. “You’re learning a lot faster than your Uncle Seokjin.”

If it was anybody else’s class but Professor Wang’s, Taehyun would have been worried that the class would have gotten away from her and been more focused on him, on Yeonjun and on the extra student the class picked up. But Professor Wang ran a tight ship and did not suffer any distractions, which suited Taehyun just fine; it was enough of a problem to try and focus on the lecture while he was still reeling from the last couple of hours. 

_“…you alright there, Jeon?”_

_“I’ll be fine once I can leave. Everyone’s staring.”_

_“It’s because I’m hot.”_

_“It’s because you destroyed four containment rooms.”_

_“It was only three!”_

_“That’s not better.”_

The only good thing about their telepathic link was that it helped both of them drown out Tiamat’s influence a little bit. She was growing steadily stronger the longer they stayed bonded, and Taehyun was dreading trying to sleep that night. While they had a few spare minutes between classes, Taehyun, Yeonjun and Changkyun went to Professor Park’s office. Taehyun had no idea what Changkyun was going to do; he’d only asked the Cat Spirit to help as a joke.

His answer was quickly received when he saw that Professor Park’s entire complexion paled as he caught sight of the Black Cat Spirit. “Chankyun,” he said, swallowing slightly and adjusting his bifocals. “To… to what do I owe this visit? Is Ms. Elessaria doing well?”

Changkyun smiled slightly, his yellow eyes glinting in the artificial light of the office. “She is,” he replied. “And I’m not here to bother you, Professor. I’m just here to support Ms. Elessaria’s nephew and a fellow Spirit. I’m sure you’ve heard about the … incident that occurred earlier today?”

“Ah, yes, I have heard that Mr. Choi and Mr. Jeon were involved in an… incident, yes,” Professor Park said, eyes quickly scanning his computer for the referenced email. “I’m relieved to see that both of you are all right. But that does bring up the issue of your presentation.”

“The circumstances were out of our hands,” Taehyun started, trying not to focus on the fact that Yeonjun was absently drawing circles with his thumb on Taehyun’s palm. He could never get a handle on what the hell Yeonjun was thinking at any given time and if anything, their Bond had made it _worse_. “Yeonjun-hyung was ambushed and left for dead. Can we present the next class?”

“It seems fairly reasonable to me,” Changkyun added, folding his arms.

Yeonjun looked at him. “If you don’t have the time, we could just do a demonstration or something; we’re a Bonded pair now.” He scratched his cheek with his free hand before gesturing to his eyes. “Perfect Link and all.”

The Professor’s eyes widened and he looked at the pair, startled with the discovery. “A Perfect Link… truly? Fascinating. Yes, a quick demonstration of this would be perfect as the next module deals with Spirits specifically and their relationship to Sorcerers.” He looked over at Changkyun. “Ms. Elessaria is also welcome to come, if she so chooses.”

“She respectfully declines, but appreciates the offer,” Changkyun replied easily, a smirk on his lips. “I’m just here for moral support.”

“Of… Of course,” Professor Park agreed with a nod. “Um, ah, is that everything? I do have another class to prepare for.”

Changkyun looked over at Taehyun and Yeonjun. “That good enough for you two kids?”

“That works,” Taehyun said with a nod.

“I don’t know what the hell we’d demonstrate but yeah, works for me,” Yeonjun agreed.

“—you’re the one that suggested a demonstration!” Taehyun exclaimed, exasperated.

“I didn’t see you come up with anything better!” Yeonjun snapped back.

Changkyun smirked and placed a hand on his two younger charge’s shoulders. “Come on, kids.” With that, he pushed them out of the Professor’s office while they continued to bicker. “You’ve only been permanently bonded a couple of hours and you’re already arguing like an old married couple.”

Taehyun rolled his eyes. “Like I’d _marry_ Yeonjun-hyung. He’s a big enough pain in my neck; I don’t need to bring the law into it.” He smirked. “But I’ll be your backup when Soobin-hyung says no.”

“You little shit—!”

~ * ~

“How many random rooms are in this place?” Yeonjun demanded as Jungkook, Seokjin and Taehyung led him and Taehyun to a training room of sorts, the walls and floor engraved with protective glyphs and runes. “It’s like some kind of twisted funhouse.”

Seokjin snorted. “No, that was Adeneus’ lair.”

Jungkook rubbed Taehyun’s shoulder gently. “You sure you want to try this tonight, Bun? It’s not a bad idea to let it sit for a couple of days.”

Taehyun shook his head. “Tiamat’s getting worse and worse and if we don’t do this, I think both Yeonjun-hyung and I would knock ourselves out for good just to get some peace.”

“Amen,” Yeonjun muttered as he looked around the room. Seokjin guided them to the middle of the room, and gestured for them to sit cross-legged. “Okay, so how are we doing this?”

“Most of this is on me,” Taehyun started slowly, rubbing his Sorcerer’s Mark. “What you’ll need to do, hyung, is keep steady and feed energy to me instead of the other way around. I’m going to cast _meteor swarm_ on the space between the Symbol and our Shared Pool. It’s… going to feel… I don’t know how to even describe it?”

“It’s going to suck,” Seokjin filled in, sighing. “You’re going to want to pull back and fight back, but you absolutely cannot. A Sorcerer’s Pool is not to be messed with like this, so we’re definitely venturing into new territory. Taehyung and I will be supervising you closely, and JK, Yoongi and Namjoon will be the backup in case something goes wrong.”

Taehyun exhaled deeply and nodded, closing his eyes and holding his hands out for Yeonjun to take. _“Let’s do this, hyung.”_

_“Don’t blow it, Jeon.”_

_“You really do suck at pep talks.”_

_“Fuck you.”_

_“Bold of you to assume you’d top.”_

_“What the –”_

Taehyun smirked and grasped Yeonjun’s hands, holding them tightly as he caught the Phoenix off guard enough to maneuver him where he needed to be. In truth, teasing Yeonjun also helped Taehyun with his nerves; the Phoenix’s reactions were so over the top sometimes that he could focus on that instead. He closed his eyes and exhaled deeply, delving deep into his and Yeonjun’s connection, finding their shared pool of energy. As was the case before, Tiamat’s Symbol was empty, but it had gotten bigger, more jagged.

 _“She’s getting closer to breaching the whole barrier,”_ Yeonjun muttered. _“She’s really determined to fuck with us.”_

 _“Then we’re going to fuck with her right back,”_ Taehyun replied firmly. _“I’m casting it now. Ready?”_

_“Ready.”_

Taehyun gripped the Spirit’s hands tightly and began to mentally recite the incantation for _Meteor Swarm_. It was complicated, and it was long for a Sorcerer Spell, but as it was the strongest fire-elemental spell in their arsenal, it wasn’t surprising. Jungkook had repeatedly drilled into his son’s head that internally casting spells required 100% of one’s concentration and any shift in energies whether from him or Yeonjun would send it spiraling, so Taehyun went as slowly and as carefully as he could.

It was a highly advanced technique, making use of the weird in between phase of existence between a Sorcerer’s mind and their body. Yeonjun tensed as he could see spheres of molten fire appear in the “sky” of his and Taehyun’s Energy Pool, hovering in place as they grew bigger and bigger, all aimed at the stretch of stone separating the Symbol and their Pool. He grit his teeth and swallowed; Tiamat’s Fury was beginning to reach a fever pitch and they hadn’t even gotten to the actual spell being cooked off yet.

The Phoenix gripped Taehyun’s hands tightly, turning his attention to ensuring the pool of energy was filled to the brim but not one iota over. Taehyung was a strict taskmaster, instilling into Yeonjun through their training how to accurately fill and take very specific percentages of energy away from the Shared Pool. If they hadn’t been on such a time crunch, Yeonjun would’ve enjoyed it more; he’d always looked up to Jujak, hearing the stories on the lips of the wind from those that had tried to come to Tiamat’s Temple and those in the streets when he’d finally escaped.

In truth, that had been one of the reasons he’d been drawn to Taehyun; the son of a Spirit he admired, burning with a fire as bright as he’d ever seen … and a mouth to match. Being so focused on their shared energy pool, Yeonjun wondered if that was the reason for the sudden trip down not-so-far-away memory lane. As it seemed to be keeping them stable, he decided there wasn’t any further harm in indulging it; in all honesty, it was nice to finally have some _good_ memories with the snarky Sorcerer.

The Spirit wondered just when it was that Taehyun started to look different to him, receiving his answer in a floaty memory of the pun-pocalypse that occurred at _Third Eye’s Crown_ ; his face beginning to heat up. Yeonjun swallowed, squeezing his Sorcerer’s – _his Sorcerer_ – hand, carefully filling the pool with more of his energy as he sensed Taehyun’s rising anxiousness and the tell-tale signs of the spell about to be fired off.

_“I don’t know if I can do this.”_

_“Just fire it. We just need it to break the stone. The energy’s gonna leak out and go where the path takes it.”_

_“It’s too much! I can’t… the fireballs, they’re too unwieldy! This is not what it was like with Uncle Jin!”_

_“J – Taehyun, listen to me. Release them. – I’ve got you.”_

_“…Hyung?”_

_“We’re in this together, Taehyun. Fire it. I’m here.”_

_“—Right. Here goes.”_

Yeonjun felt Taehyun tighten his grip on his hands, a shaky exhale of breath tumbling past his lips, followed by a tight swallow as he triggered the spell. With remarkable accuracy, Taehyun’s meteors pummeled the stone one after the other, forcibly hammering out a deep path that connected Tiamat’s symbol to their shared pool of magical energy. He choked out a bubble of blood, Taehyun following shortly afterwards, their mouths and shirts stained with the thick red liquid. His Sorcerer grit his teeth and held onto Yeonjun’s hands firmly, ensuring the meteors continued to hit the same spot as the stone struggled to rebuild itself.

_“Just a little more! They’re not rebuilding as fast. If we keep pounding it, we can keep it this way.”_

_“I really want to crack a joke but this is taking a thousand percent of my concentration right now.”_

_“Shut it, Jeon.”_

_“You get pretty flustered when I hit on you, that’s good to know.”_

_“Is now really the time? We’re both drooling blood.”_

_“I hear the vampire aesthetic is in now.”_

The last meteor crashed into the well-bombed site, and as the dust cleared, the deep and brute-forced path was remaining open, being filled up to the brim by the seemingly liquid energy from the Shared Pool. Yeonjun swallowed and coughed up another spurt of blood as they watched the Shared Pool slowly decrease in its levels as the path was solidified – their bodies were instinctively strengthening the path, ensuring that it remained open and fortified. The Spirit watched with widening eyes as the path soon became a part of their Shared Pool, Tiamat’s Symbol filled to the brim with their energy.

The silence was almost impossible to believe.

Suddenly, Yeonjun’s eyes snapped open at the same as Taehyun’s and he surged forward, capturing the Fire Sorcerer’s lips in a blisteringly hot kiss. Taehyun, suitably caught off guard, wrapped his arms around his Spirit to steady both of them, instinctively returning the kiss before suddenly remembering where they were and pulling back, his cheeks flushed bright with embarrassment.

“Well, I’m going to take that as a sign that you were successful,” Seokjin said, the utter amusement and smugness in his voice almost too much for Taehyun to bear.

“…Y-yes,” Taehyun stammered, pulling his toque down further to hide his bright red ears – trying violently to ignore the fact that Yeonjun was still almost completely in his lap.

Yeonjun grinned and tugged at Taehyun’s toque. “You’re pretty cute, Jeon Taehyun.”

Taehyun glowered at him, but the Phoenix could feel an undeniable surge of affection when their gazes met. “And you’re a pain in my ass, Choi Yeonjun.” A small smile creased his bloodied lips. “But a cute one.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey things are finally looking up! 
> 
> ... in the penultimate chapter. 
> 
> No i'm not planning anything


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peace and Quiet has finally descended upon Third Eye's Crown, but things at the shop are never quiet for long.

Yeonjun glanced over at the other four of their little friend group, raising an eyebrow as they were all glued to their phones. “What do the words ‘take out’ mean to you?” he asked suddenly.

“Food,” Kai replied immediately, grinning sheepishly when Soobin raised an eyebrow at him, given that they were in the cafeteria and currently eating. “What?”

“Hitman,” Taehyun quipped, not even bothering to look up from his phone.

“Date,” Soobin answered, shaking his head at the other answers.

Beomgyu hummed, twirling a chopstick between his fingers. “All three if you’re not a coward,” he finished, smirking.

“I don’t know why I even bothered asking,” Yeonjun snorted. He smiled, though; there was something so charming about the mundanity of the conversation, and he supposed it was because for the first time in his life, he could actually _enjoy_ it. Since he had been able to recall being conscious, Yeonjun could finally hear himself think - and hear Taehyun think, but they were working on that - and it was making him drunk with relief. For once, Yeonjun could enjoy his life, enjoy his friends, enjoy being _alive_ and he wasn’t going to take any of it for granted.

Since he and Taehyun had modified their Shared Pool and successfully blocked out Tiamat, they’d mutually agreed to give each other some space, to learn who they were outside of the Bond as well as within it. Taehyun had insisted that Yeonjun take the time to actually live like a normal student, and promised that they’d work on the mental separation later. Yeonjun smiled to himself at the memory; the normally sardonic and distant Taehyun wanted the Spirit to experience what the rest of them had.

Fuck.

He was in trouble.

“Why _were_ you asking, Yeonjun-hyung?” Beomgyu asked curiously, raising an eyebrow. “Were you, perhaps, trying to see how you could romance your Sorcerer?” He nudged Taehyun with an elbow, grinning.

Taehyun snorted. “You’re way more invested in this than we are.”

“We have a bet going, of course we are,” Beomgyu replied with a snort. “You could win me lunch for a week.”

“Wow, those stakes are almost too high,” Taehyun said flatly. “I can’t imagine how you’re going to live if you don’t win that.”

_“Shouldn’t YOU be the one taking ME out?”_

_“A hitman’s a lot of money and I don’t make a lot with tarot readings.”_

_“On a_ **_date_ ** _, you obtuse fuck.”_

Finally, the Fire Sorcerer raised his gaze from his phone, a smirk creasing his lips. “You want to go on a date with me, Yeonjun-hyung? Is that why you keep pulling on my metaphorical pigtails?” He set his phone down and rested his chin on his palm. “If you were just honest with me, we could have gone on one already.”

A bright blush shot across Yeonjun’s cheeks and he stared at the Sorcerer with wide, dual-coloured eyes, shoving him instinctively. “Shut up! That’s not what I’m saying!” he exclaimed, shoulders hunched up with embarrassment.

“Do I need to remind you that I can hear and feel everything you do?” Taehyun countered, echoing a line that Yeonjun loved to use previously. _“Do you want to go out on date with me sometime, Yeonjun-hyung?”_

Suddenly, Yeonjun slammed his hands down on the cafeteria table, startling the others out of their conversation. “No! Not unless you accept my challenge! I want to fight you, Jeon Taehyun!”

“This again?” Soobin said with a heavy sigh and a shake of his head. “How many times will Taehyun reject your challenge before you realize he won’t? It’s —”

Taehyun sighed. “Fine.”

“ _What?_ ” Kai exclaimed in disbelief.

“Can you say that in my good ear?” Beomgyu added.

“Why do I even bother?” Soobin asked, looking heavenward for guidance.

Yeonjun couldn’t believe his ears either. He narrowed his eyes and leaned forward to look at his Sorcerer with a distrustful look. “Why are you suddenly saying yes after telling me to fuck off literally every single time I’ve asked you since we’ve met?”

Taehyun picked up his phone as it lit up with a couple of notifications from the family group chat and glanced at it briefly before looking back at the Spirit. “Because it seems important to you,” he answered finally. “I didn’t get it before, but after being bonded to you for a while, I’m starting to; it’s gotta do with _her_. She really did a number on you out of spite, didn’t she?”

“That’s an understatement,” Yeonjun muttered, running a hand through his vibrant pink hair. “—You can’t back out now. You’ve accepted.”

“Yeah, yeah. We’re doing it at the Shop, though; I’m not getting expelled because of you,” Taehyun replied. He rolled his eyes, but smirked. “What a weird first date you’ve chosen… But it’s very _you_ , Igniria.”

Taehyun had never used his Spirit name before, and Yeonjun wasn’t prepared for how much it affected him. His ears turned bright red and he swallowed tightly, narrowing his eyes at the Sorcerer. “You think you’re hot shit, don’t you?” he muttered.

“I mean, _Fire Sorcerer_ ,” Taehyun countered with a smirk, echoing back to their first meeting. “—Come by the shop when you want to throw down; I’ll let everyone know.” He looked at his phone and raised an eyebrow. But it looks like I’ve gotta head back the Shop ASAP once we’re done for the day today.”

Soobin blinked. “Something happen?”

“If by ‘something’ you mean ‘Uncle Jimin, Uncle Hobi and Father want us to play test their new game because our family is the definition of unorthodox and find a way to break everything’ then… yes, something happened,” Taehyun answered, blinking at his phone before answering it and putting it on speaker. “You’re on speaker, Uncle,” he said, confused.

“Yunie!” greeted a bright voice, with an even brighter peal of laughter. “You can bring your friends along too! The more people we have the better!”

A warm smile creased Taehyun’s lips as he lifted the phone up, tilting the speaker so that it was near his mouth. “Do we get compensated for play-testing your new game, Uncle Hobi?”

Hoseok laughed again and it was honestly infectious; even Yeonjun, who was trying his damnedest to stay focused on the challenge that lay ahead of him instead of how cute his Sorcerer and his family was being, found himself smiling. Fuck. He was even whipped for his Sorcerer’s family. Fuck. He really was too far gone. “You’ll be compensated in my love and affection! And we’re buying dinner for everyone.”

“There it is,” Taehyun said with a laugh. He looked over at the others. “You guys in? Games Night at _Third Eye’s Crown_ is a certifiable shit show, but it’s never boring.”

Beomgyu nodded. “I’m in!”

“Same!” Kai agreed. “This is way more interesting than doing assignments.”

“You should be keeping on top of your work,” Soobin pointed out. “You’re the one that’s always panicking about falling behind, Kai.”

Kai waved a hand. “Is it truly the University experience if we’re not all panicking about not being able to finish our work? I’m just making it _authentic_.”

Soobin snorted. “Someone has to keep an eye on you, so I’ll come too.”

Taehyun smirked. “Uncle Yoongi usually self-sabotages so he can dip early, so you two can talk about boring water/ice Sorcerer stuff if you want.”

“That’s — … do you think he’d really want to talk to me about that?” Soobin asked, a shy smile coming to his lips.

“Uncle Yoongi will one thousand percent talk your ear off about his elemental bias,” Taehyun confirmed.

“It’s true, he will,” Hoseok added. “Then you two can nerd out in the corner while we … nerd out at the main table over board games.” He sighed. “We’re all just a bunch of nerds, aren’t we?” There was an airy laugh beside Hoseok’s voice and there was the soft sound of a smack - Hoseok had smacked the arm of whomever was beside him. “Quiet, Jiminie!”

Jimin laughed again and leaned in closer to the phone. “We’re looking forward to meeting your friends of course, Yunie, but I’m more interested in meeting this boyfriend of yours. Be sure to bring him too, okay?”

Yeonjun smirked as the phone fumbled out of Taehyun’s hands, hitting the table with an awkward clatter. “ _Boyfriend?_ ” Taehyun echoed. “I don’t … there’s no _boyfriend_.”

“Not _yet_ ,” Beomgyu added, leaning in to speak clearly into Taehyun’s phone. “But we’ve got a bet going that they’re going to be lovesick and gross pretty soon.”

Jimin laughed again. “You. I like you.”

Taehyun groaned. “You two are never meeting! I rescind the whole invitation. Only Soobin-hyung and Kai are coming.”

“So who is Yeonjun?” Jimin asked innocently.

“ _He’s_ the boyfriend,” Beomgyu helpfully supplied, expertly dodging Taehyun’s smack.

Jimin made a sound of surprise, and Taehyun could see the older man’s expression so clearly in his mind’s eye that Yeonjun could also see it without even trying. Jimin was a force to be reckoned with; he absolutely already knew who Yeonjun was already, and had easily gotten confirmation of what he wanted. The Spirit hoped his face wasn’t as red as it felt.

“Oh! So his name _is_ Yeonjun,” he said, sounding thoughtful. “Taehyungie kept calling him Igniria so I was waiting to hear that name, but Yeonjun is a cute name too! — okay, we’ll see all of you later!”

With the call disconnected, Taehyun groaned and put a hand over his face. “I guess you’re going to be meeting Uncle Jimin and Uncle Hoseok too,” he mumbled. “They work with Father at _PERSONA Games_.”

Soobin smirked and clapped a hand on Taehyun’s shoulder. “Every time we meet another member of your family, I’m reminded of just how much they all love to vibe check each other and most importantly, how much they love to do it to _you_.”

“I miss the days when they’d spoil me rotten,” Taehyun sighed, hanging his head.

~ * ~

Taehyun stopped when he, Soobin, Yeonjun, Beomgyu and Kai entered the Shop, as the others had stopped several paces behind him after passing through the threshold. “What’s the problem?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Something changed here,” Kai said, waving a finger in the general direction of the main shop floor. “It wasn’t this big before.”

“…Yeah?”

Soobin sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Someone in your family made it bigger because of the gathering tonight, didn’t they?”

Seokjin grinned and put an arm around Soobin’s broad shoulders. “You catch on quick, Soobinie!” he praised. “We like to change things up in here from time to time because it can get so boring and blasé, you know?”

“No,” Soobin answered truthfully, but he smiled sheepishly. “I feel like I should ask you how you can do something like that; it’s not even a part of your elemental affinity.”

Seokjin’s eyes widened and became bright with interest. “If you wanna know, I can teach you, Soobinie!”

Taehyun huffed. “Oh, so you’re replacing me with Soobin-hyung? I see how it is. You work me to the bone from the tender age of four and now as soon as you find someone fresh and more handsome you _abandon_ me?”

“He’d probably have an easier time teaching Soobin instead of whatever hell he went through with you,” Yeonjun replied, folding his arms with a roll of his eyes.

The Fire Sorcerer paused, poking his cheek with his tongue - a habit picked up from Jungkook - his expression shifting from unimpressed to smug. He wrapped an arm around Yeonjun’s shoulders, letting his fingers lightly dance along the Spirit’s neck as he put just a little bit of his fire magic in his fingertips. Immediately, Yeonjun melted against him, biting back a soft gasp that was deadly close to slipping into a moan. _“So that_ _is_ _a thing with you. Good to know.”_

 _“Asshole,”_ Yeonjun hissed, a fresh burst of arousal and _shyness_ shooting through their Link. He hated how much he liked feeling the little bursts of Taehyun’s fire against his skin; it felt _wonderful_ and literally sparked something inside of him. _“You’re bold as hell, doing this in your family’s home!”_

Seemingly ignoring him, Taehyun’s attention was fixated further into the shop’s main floor where he could see the two newer members of his family that the others hadn’t met yet. “Uncle Jimin! Uncle Hoseok!” he called, waving them over. “Over here!”

Even though he’d seen Jimin’s face in his Mind’s Eye from his Link with Taehyun, seeing the man in person was still surprising; Jimin was extremely handsome, as was his husband, Hoseok. Both were dressed stylishly but where Jimin was dressed in classic Chanel, Hoseok was more streetwear based, his colour choices bold and bright. Yeonjun was beginning to wonder if everybody Taehyun knew was some sort of model - it was starting to get ridiculous.

Jimin smiled widely, so much so that his eyes partially closed and he pulled Taehyun into a tight hug. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in so long, Taehyunie!” he said fondly, ruffling Taehyun’s multi-hued hair. “How did you manage to do this to your hair without Tae losing his shit?”

“I bonded to _him_ and it happened,” Taehyun replied, tilting his head towards Yeonjun. “There wasn’t really anything to do about it, so I guess Father just made peace with it?”

“The near-death experiences that happened one after the other kind of distracted him,” Beomgyu pointed out. “You two keep falling ass first into the most insane things. I might as well do my essay on the two of you for Magical Anomalies.”

Hoseok and Jimin both looked endlessly amused as Taehyun groaned and put his face in his hands. “JK and Tae have been telling us a lot about how you two seem to be continuing the Jeon tradition of getting into trouble,” Hoseok teased.

Soobin sighed. “It’s doing wonders for my blood pressure.”

As Hoseok laughed brightly, Jimin slid over to Yeonjun and gave him a little nudge with his elbow. “How are you feeling? Tae mentioned that you’re a Phoenix Spirit too but you were having issues with getting enough energy? Tae used to be like that too; after he’d broken away from his previous Sorcerer, Hobi and I tried everything to get his temperature up… but nothing can replace a Sorcerer’s energy, you know?”

Surprised, Yeonjun was momentarily at a loss for words. “Really? Jujak-nim… he had a Sorcerer before Mr. Jeon?”

Jimin nodded, his gaze shifting to watch as Taehyun was pulled over to get a closer look at the game by Hoseok. “You might have heard Taehyunie mention the duel Jungkookie and Tae had against Adeneus; that was Tae’s previous Sorcerer. He broke away from him because he realized that Adeneus wasn’t the man he thought he was; he felt betrayed… and scared.”

“What… what happened?” Yeonjun couldn’t stop himself from asking; he had to know. It sounded so much like what happened with himself and Tiamat.

The older man’s expression shifted as he thought about how to phrase what he was going to say next. “He forcibly broke the Bond,” Jimin answered softly. “It takes a lot of energy to unilaterally break a Bond and the only reason Tae was able to do it was because he’s a Phoenix. Hoseok and I … we literally ran into him when he was running through the streets, dressed in torn robes and tripping over the tattered fabric.” Jimin’s plush lips curled into a small smile as he looked over at Yeonjun. “I think that’s why he feels responsible for you; you remind him of himself when he was your age.”

“It’s… I didn’t think Jujak-nim went through something like that,” Yeonjun said quietly. “Breaking a Bond on his own … he must have felt desperate.”

“He was,” Jimin confirmed. “He made it about a year on his own before he got off his ass and got with Jungkookie and bonded with him. Honestly, we were more relieved they finally stopped dancing around each other than the whole Bond thing.” He laughed airily, his eyes crinkling. “Speaking of … how long have you and Taehyunie been together?”

Yeonjun choked on his spit, coughing violently while Jimin, with faux innocence, rubbed his back while he hunched over in an attempt to get a hold of himself. He righted himself and stared at the older man with wide eyes, seeing Jimin’s angelic smile in response. If there was anyone he had to be careful of, Yeonjun knew that it was definitely Park Jimin. “We’re not … _together_ , like that,” he sputtered, trying valiantly to clear his throat. “Yet.”

_Yet??_

That seemed to be exactly the response that Jimin was looking for and the older man threw his head back and laughed delightedly. “Oh, you’re so cute!” he cooed, pinching Yeonjun’s right cheek with his slender fingers. “Taehyunie! Make sure you’re taking Yeonjunie out on a proper first date, okay?”

Taehyun blinked as he looked over from the main two tables where Taehyung and Hoseok were setting up the game. “He says he wants to fight me as our first date,” he called back. “I think it’s kind of weird but I’m tired of fighting him on it.”

“That doesn’t count as a first date,” Kai pointed out.

“You tell _him_ that,” Taehyun snorted. “I offered to take him out on a proper date and he told me we had to throw hands first.”

Yoongi snorted. “It took JK nearly dying before he got his shit together to get with Taehyung, and even then Taehyung made the first move so I’m not surprised it seems to be a familial trait.”

“Uncle, _please_ ,” Taehyun pleaded, exasperated. “Aren’t we here to put our familial bonds in jeopardy by playing a secret identities game?”

Namjoon sighed and rubbed his forehead. “I don’t know why they thought this would be a good idea. They know how games nights here get.”

“We don’t know,” Kai piped up.

“I don’t know if I want to know now,” Soobin said, blinking.

“It’s fine!” Jungkook said, waving his hand. “We’re fine.”

Yoongi raised an eyebrow. “So we’re not going to bring up the great Jeon War?”

Beomgyu stared. “The _what_.”

Suddenly, Taehyun’s arms came around Kai, Soobin, Beomgyu and Yeonjun. “Let me spin you a yarn,” he said, gaze distant as he looked off into the middle distance. “It was four years ago, I was a young man of 16, playing Monopoly with my dear Uncles, my Dad, my Father. The usual suspects. I was the banker and trying my best to make it work while Dad and Uncle Seokjin waged a war over half the board. Accusations of trickery, tomfoolery and outright scandal pulled the whole family into it… it got so bad we signed a Treaty and agreed never to play it again. The only good thing that came out of it was that I was cheating the whole time and no one knew; that’s how I won.”

“You _what?!_ ” Jungkook exclaimed in disbelief. “Bun!”

“What?! It’s not cheating if you don’t get caught,” Taehyun protested. “You guys were waging WWIII and I wasn’t going to take advantage of it? _Please_. I wanted to go to sleep and you guys were going to make the game take like a thousand years! You know Monopoly’s only supposed to take two hours? Not _ten_. My family wanted me to come home from the war!”

“ _We’re_ your family!” Seokjin said, shaking his head.

Yoongi smirked and ruffled Taehyun’s hair. “I taught you well.”

Hoseok rolled his eyes and waved his hands. “If you’re all done, come over here and we’re going to go over the rules. And pay attention this time!” He pointed two fingers at his eyes, then pointed them directly at everyone in the room. “And no cheating, Changkyun!”

Changkyun put a hand to his chest. “I would never… get caught,” he finished with a smirk.

The game itself seemed simple enough and reminded Yeonjun of a game he’d play with Soobin, Kai and Beomgyu called Coup. There were hidden identities, roles, and a layer of distrust built in with the way the game flow was structured. As they played in various groups at different numbers of participants, Yeonjun got the hang of it, and soon found out why it was that game nights at the Jeon/Min/Kim household were so hectic.

They were all a bunch of betrayers.

In particular, he saw a wicked side of Taehyun when they finally got to play a game together, his Sorcerer showing signs of being a puppet master. He turned everyone against each other and quietly completed his tasks, winning several games in a row. Yeonjun tried to use their Perfect Link, but Taehyun had somehow figured out a way to use it to distract him, and lead the Spirit on a different logic track than the one he was really using.

Fuck, it shouldn’t have been as hot as it was to realize how smart Taehyun really was.

The Sorcerer caught his gaze and winked, a small smirk curling his lips. As Taehyun reached over to pull the game tokens that signified points over to his growing pile, a burst of blue fire erupted from underneath his seat and engulfed him entirely, the flame spiralling high enough to touch the artificially heightened ceilings. Yeonjun’s eyes widened as he realized what was happening; he shot to his feet, jumping up on the table and leaping into the plume of flame before it burst, leaving nothing behind but a destroyed table and pair of chairs.

With a curse as he suddenly fell to his knees on a giant marble floor, Taehyun whipped his head around and just missed catching his toque before it was carried off on the wind and out of reach. “Fuck!” he hissed, frowning. “What the hell was…” his impending rant about his life never staying quiet was cut abruptly short by a loud screech.

Slowly, Taehyun raised his head and felt his heart leap into his throat; standing as tall as the Lotte World Tower was Tiamat, the Mother of All Dragons. Her five heads, each representing one of the elements, reared back and screamed, magic tumbling from their clenched jaws like molten lava. Her claws dug into the floor of her temple, destroying the marble like it was nothing.

‘You?!’ she demanded, each one of her voices speaking in unison like some hellacious choir. ‘ _You_ are the one that stole Igniria from me!? Corrupted him? Some _child_ has been causing me so much irritation?’

Once the young Sorcerer had gotten over his - admittedly, quite understandable - shock, Taehyun pushed himself to his feet and narrowed his eyes. “I’ve been _waiting_ for you to make a move. I knew you’d try something like this once we shut you out.” Unlike Yeonjun who had put Tiamat far out of his mind in the weeks since they modified their Shared Pool, Taehyun had been patiently waiting for Tiamat to snap, to pull one or both of them into her Realm. In between his assignments and working at the Shop, Taehyun had been spending the remaining free time he had studying up on Tiamat in Yoongi’s library. The Mother of All Dragons was fickle, she was temperamental, possessive, petty, and she was territorial. With all of those things combined, it was only a matter of time before she would try and take Taehyun out for good in order to get Yeonjun back.

It had been the main reason that Taehyun had insisted Yeonjun focus on living a normal student life; Tiamat’s revenge was hanging over them like a guillotine.

“Why did you do it?” Taehyun demanded. “Why did you make a Phoenix from your fire? You know as well as anyone your fire’s not meant for it! How could you… how could you hurt Igniria like that?”

All five of Tiamat’s heads snarled, lowering down with a bend of her multiple necks so she was at eye level with the little Sorcerer. ‘You have a mouth on you, little one,’ Tiamat hissed. ‘Do you not realize to whom you are before?’

Taehyun narrowed his eyes and stood his ground. “I know _exactly_ to whom I’m speaking. I’m talking to the one that hasn’t done anything but cause Igniria pain and for once in his life, for _once_ , he’s able to think and breathe and do what _he_ wants. You’re not going to torment him anymore!”

‘And you will make sure of it? Little, tiny ember of Imvaernarho?’ Tiamat snorted. ‘I could kill you right here and no one would be able to find any remains of you.’

“Do it!” Taehyun challenged, surprising the Eldest draconic God. “But you’re not going to do it, are you? Because you know that it’s not going to get you what you want.” He clenched his fists tight, fingernails digging into his palms; the adrenaline was coursing through his veins and he felt faint, but there was no way that was going to back down now. “You want Igniria to be bound to you forever, don’t you? Dependant on the power you took away from him, always hearing you, always _feeling_ you, so … what? So you could feel big and strong? It’s _pathetic_.”

Tiamat roared, her five mouths opening wide as magical, elemental energy flowed from her jaws, dangerously close to landing on the young Sorcerer. She growled, the rumble shaking the temple grounds. ‘Your mouth is going to be your undoing, little ember,’ she snarled, her leathery, scaly wings spread wide. ‘Why do you defend him so? You know what he is, you know what no matter what you do, he will always be _mine_. To _Bond_ with _my_ Ingiria… you have a lot of nerve. Just like your Fathers.’ Suddenly, her scaly mouths curled into multiple, dark smirks. ‘But that is where the similarities end, isn’t it?’

“Shut up!” Taehyun snapped, shoulders hunching up. “I’m not going to fall for your tricks.”

‘Is it a trick if it’s the truth?’ Tiamat asked, tilting her heads from side to side, five pairs of eyes watching him smugly. ‘So much talent in your family line, so much power in those that live in your home … but what about you? They shield you because they know… they know that you aren’t anywhere near as talented as they are. The baby, the little one… he tries his best and he parrots back the words so easily. But when the tests come, when the world pushes back, he flames out. The little embers don’t catch on the wood and they sputter out. Poor little ember… the only black mark on a shining legacy.’

Taehyun shook his head, frowning; he could feel the bile rising in his throat, the insecurities bubbling up despite being shoved so far down he couldn’t see them anymore. “Stop it. It’s not… that’s not true. It was. It _was_ true. I … I knew that I wasn’t as good as everybody else in my family; the only reason I’m halfway decent is because they took pity on me and were babying me. There’s nothing special about me; if anybody had nearly as much attention as they gave me, they’d… they’d be the same way. I’m just…” He shook his head. “I hated it. I hated people knowing there were things I couldn’t do - _Thanks for that, by the way_ \- I still hate it.”

‘The truth can hurt.’ Slowly, almost so slowly that Taehyun couldn’t see it, Tiamat’s large claw curled around his slender frame, scooping him up before he realized what was happening. ‘Not more than _I_ can hurt you, but still, quite painful.’

“Let me go!” Taehyun exclaimed, squirming. “It doesn’t matter if I hate it, I know … I know I’m not as good as they are.”

‘Not only are you not as good, but you’re quite a good little liar, aren’t you, little ember?’ Tiamat murmured, her claws sinking into his body, both literally and figuratively. ‘Putting on such a convincing show for everyone; you’ve even fooled Ingiria.’

Taehyun shook his head firmly, swallowing down a cry as Tiamat’s claws sunk in deeper, piercing his skin and coming dangerously close to his vital organs. “It’s because of him that I don’t feel like that anymore! Even what you … even what you … what you did to him, he’s fearless. He’s pushing forward, he’s… he’s amazing. I don’t care what you say, he’s incredible and it’s because of him that I’m … I know I can get better. It’s _okay_ if I don’t know everything.” He hung his head, shaking it slowly. “I don’t know if I could do what he did.”

Irritated that Taehyun wasn’t breaking, Tiamat roared loudly and crushed her fist, revelling in the young Sorcerer’s screams. ‘There will be nothing left of you to revive,’ Tiamat promised, her five pairs of eyes narrowing. ‘Igniria can try, but I will _end_ you and he will have _no choice_ but to return to me.’

_“Taehyun.”_

_“…! Get out of here, Yeonjun-hyung!”_

_“You must be out of your fucking mind. What was your big plan, mouth off to her and hope she gets annoyed and leaves us alone? Moron!”_

Taehyun grit his teeth and stared up at the furious Dragon Goddess, blood trickling down his mouth as she held him tight. _“I have a plan,”_ he muttered, spitting out a glob of blood and coughing.

_“Was it a good plan?”_

_“Let’s not get carried away.”_

Yeonjun snorted and Taehyun couldn’t help but grin; the ludicrousness of bickering with Yeonjun while he was mouthing off to the Mother of All Dragons, the Cursed One… he couldn’t imagine what his family would think of this. _“We can’t take her on.”_

_“No shit. How did you get out of here the first time?”_

_“It’s not complicated; we just need to distract her and get down to the base of the mountain.”_

Taehyun choked and lurched forward, a sudden, terrifying drop in his energy abruptly cutting off the conversation. _“We gotta hurry; I’m not gonna … last much longer. She’s got really good aim with these freaking claws.”_

He could feel Yeonjun’s anger spike at that, a rush of new energy pushing through their Link, and Taehyun breathed sharply, his head lolling back. _“Do you trust me?”_

_“Yes.”_

It was so immediate, so firm, and so _honest_ that Yeonjun nearly forgot why he’d asked that. _“Okay, here goes. Follow my lead.”_

_“Do what you need to. I’m only good as a battery pack right now.”_

Yeonjun grit his teeth; as much as he hated to admit it, Taehyun was right. There was no way the Sorcerer was going to be able to do much other than supply Yeonjun with the power to get him dislodged from Tiamat’s grip and get the hell away from the mountain. _“I haven’t done this before. I don’t … like using my real form.”_

 _“…I like it,”_ Taehyun admitted, his voice growing weak.

_“What?”_

_“Your real form. I like it. It’s different… it’s nice. It suits you.”_ Taehyun coughed again, wincing. _“I really didn’t… know why you hated it so much at first. It’s pretty… the fire. It kind of… I can see it in your eyes, you know? Shit. Sorry, we don’t have time. Go ahead, I’ll keep her occupied.”_

A furious blush coloured Yeonjun’s cheeks as he slowly moved out from behind the large statue made out of fire red jade, keeping his body low to the ground. _“I’m going to use a lot of our energy. It’ll be a big flash bang. With five pairs of eyes, she’ll be fucked up.”_

 _“It’s fine, do it.”_ Taehyun raised his head and smirked at Tiamat. “You know, you really owe me some kind of compensation for cleaning up your mess, Tiamat. You fucked up making a unique Phoenix Spirit, and you thought taking away his power was going to stop him?” He snorted and shook his head. “Honestly, you should be paying me for Bonding with Ingiria; he’s way better with me than with you.”

Tiamat looked so confused and so incensed by his smart-alecky remark that Yeonjun almost laughed. Only Taehyun would demand compensation from one of the Elder Gods. Quickly, Yeonjun straightened to his full height and pressed a hand to his chest, right over his Mark of Tiamat’s Flame, encircling himself with his and Taehyun’s fire - now a vibrant, violet hue. As the fire burned away his human-passing form, Yeonjun struggled not to give into the instinctive self-loathing that always bubbled to the surface when he shifted forms.

He hated how he looked in his real form, his Spirit form. He was not elegant and feathery like Jujak, but closer to a half-dragon, half-bird type of creature with leathery, scaly wings coated in blue flame. Tiamat’s Mark shone brightly on his chest, throbbing with pain at the contrasting energy that flowed through him.

( _“Your real form. I like it. It’s different… it’s nice. It suits you.”_ )

That’s right.

Yeonjun exhaled deeply and spread his wings, now drenched in the violet-hued fire that became his and Taehyun’s signature colour. He dipped deeper into their Shared Pool, already at dangerous levels due to Taehyun’s rapidly decreasing health, and cloaked himself in their fire. Igniria of Tiamat’s Flame shrieked loudly and launched himself into the air, getting enough height that he could dive-bomb straight at Tiamat’s wrist. As he neared, Igniria intensified the fire, draining the Shared Pool further.

It was a risk doing this the way that he was, and Taehyun would chew his ear off for it later, but Ingiria was nothing if not determined to be efficient. He squared his shoulders and sped up, the impact happening mere seconds later. Everything happened in quick succession: Igniria slammed into Tiamat’s wrist, forcing her to release Taehyun, who fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes and immediately afterwards, Igniria used his version of a Phoenix’s _Sacred Flame_.

Phoenix Spirits were revered as the most powerful of all the Spirits known in the magical realm, the chief reason being their ability to revive their Sorcerer. It wasn’t something they could do often, due to the drain it would have on their natural energy reserves. But the ability was prized, and rightfully so. Igniria had never revived anyone before, he didn’t know if his flame had that ability, given how Tiamat’s flame could only destroy.

But he had to try.

As soon as Taehyun dropped to the ground, Igniria grabbed him tight with his claws, and with the last of his remaining strength, used the head start the sudden impact gave him and flew as hard as he could away from the enraged dragoness. He cursed under his breath; Taehyun was heavy, and Igniria wasn’t used to having to drag a second person around like this. But he pushed forward. There was no way that he was going to slow down even to collect himself - he could hear Tiamat’s rage shaking through the mountaintop and into his core.

Their Shared Pool rumbled, and Igniria nearly dropped his Sorcerer in surprise; Tiamat was trying her damnedest to push her way in. The Phoenix began to falter, he was always weak to her, to his maker. Just a little further, if he could make it just a little further…

Slowly, so incrementally that the Phoenix nearly missed it as his attention was on more important things, Ingiria almost missed the fact that there was a slow barrier of fire creeping over their Shared Pool, specifically the path that connected the Pool to Tiamat’s Symbol. Even half-dead, Taehyun was thinking, protecting their shared energy as much as he could while ensuring Igniria had enough power to get back to safety.

As much as his Sorcerer liked to pretend he didn’t care, that he was a closed book, Igniria knew that he cared a lot.

It would have been harder to find _Third Eye’s Crown_ if it wasn’t for the sheer amount of magical energy that was coming from the Shop, that even in his weakened state Igniria could sense it clearly. He had _planned_ to carefully land in front of the shop, but there was something that prevented him from doing it: his complete lack of energy. Unsurprisingly, their mad dash of an escape used so much of it that as soon as he felt the relief of getting to his destination, Igniria’s wings gave out and they crashed through the Shop’s roof.

Groaning, Igniria turned back to his human-passing form, crawling over to Taehyun and shaking his shoulder. “C’mon,” he whispered hoarsely. _“Open your eyes, Taehyun! Goddamnit … I didn’t get us all the way off the mountain and to your goddamn house so you could DIE.”_

 _“I’m not dead, fucking hell, Igniria.”_ Taehyun slowly opened his dual-coloured eyes, his blood crusting at his mouth and down his neck, and at the multiple gashes that lined his slender frame. _“I kind of wish I was now, though; you’re so loud…”_

With a heavy sigh of relief and as he huffed out a deliriously happy expletive, Yeonjun pulled Taehyun into his arms and hugged him tight to his chest. He could hear the sound of multiple pairs of footsteps bounding up the steps, the relief increasing exponentially when he saw that it was Taehyung and Jungkook. “What the hell happened?!” Jungkook demanded. “No, wait. No time. — Jin-hyung! We need you up here! The kids are okay but they’re about ready to drop.”

Seokjin was there in an instant, out of breath and Yeonjun could faintly hear Yoongi or Namjoon - it was difficult to figure out who was who when he could barely keep his eyes open - telling Kai, Beomgyu and Soobin to stay put. He could also hear their friends say that _absolutely they would not_. “What the hell did you two do?” he whispered, helping Taehyun to his feet as Taehyung did the same for Yeonjun.

“He told Tiamat to fuck off and pay him for all the trouble she caused,” Yeonjun mumbled.

“She was being a bitch,” Taehyun grumbled in his defence, leaning heavily against Jungkook.

Jungkook blinked slowly and despite himself laughed, pressing a soft kiss to Taehyun’s temple. “When I said that you’d be the one to find one of the Old Gods and demand money, I wasn’t _serious_.” He looked over at Taehyung. “Let’s put them in Taehyun’s room.”

Yeonjun smiled to himself as he let unconsciousness overtake him, comforted by the warm energy inside of _Third Eye’s Crown_ , and more importantly, the feeling of Taehyun’s energy slowly pulsing through their Link. He’d saved him. His fire … the fire that he hated so much, that he thought couldn’t do anything useful or good, it was his fire that saved Taehyun.

Taehyun believed in him.

And if Yeonjun was honest with himself, he believed in Taehyun.

~ * ~

Taehyun couldn’t remember a lot of what happened during the next couple of days; he spent a lot of it drifting in and out of consciousness and being plied with various different types of fire: from his Father, from his Dad, and from his Uncle. It slowly replenished his depleted reserves in a systematic and almost surgical fashion. He could have sworn he even saw Elessaria, helping guide the fire magic so it could properly fill their Shared Pool, but she may as well as been an illusion for how much Taehyun was aware of his surroundings.

Somewhere around the third - maybe fourth - day, Taehyun felt something warm nuzzling his neck. For a moment, he thought it was Changkyun, but this felt different … it felt familiar, it felt like something he’d been missing, something he’d been craving. As the scent of spice and fire wafted up to his nostrils, Taehyun’s dual coloured eyes opened and a tired smile creased his lips when he saw Yeonjun’s bright pink hair.

Carefully, he raised his arms and wrapped them around Yeonjun’s lithe frame, smiling when the Spirit started in surprise. They shared a long look, no words being spoken - neither through the Link, or verbally - and twin smiles appeared, with Taehyun breaking first and capturing his Spirit’s lips in a soft kiss. Yeonjun was so surprised that he could barely return the kiss, shifting so that he was in a better position, his slender fingers sliding up Taehyun’s baggy shirt. The kiss was careful, almost exploratory, the warmth of the bed and the Sorcerer’s fire sparking at his fingertips adding to the addictive domesticity.

 _“What do you think you’re doing?”_ Yeonjun asked breathlessly, leaning down to press his body against his Sorcerer’s, a devious glint in his eyes. _“You’ve been sleeping like the dead for the last three days.”_

 _“Just showing my appreciation,”_ Taehyun replied, a tiny smile on his lips. _“You saved my life, Igniria.”_

 _“…Now we’re even,”_ Yeonjun said quickly, heat rushing to his face as Taehyun once more coated his fingertips in his fire, running his slender hands up the Spirit’s sides. His hands came dangerously close to dipping below the waistband of Yeonjun’s sweatpants, but the Spirit was not about to just let Taehyun think he had the upper hand. With a smirk of his own, Yeonjun stole another kiss, grinding his hips down against his Sorcerer’s, delighting in the low groan he was able to pull from him. _“But I think I want to see how you were going to show your appreciation, Taehyun.”_

 _“Just hold onto something … and keep quiet. If I cast silence, someone’s going to know and we’re going to be in trouble.”_ Taehyun smirked as he slid a hand in between them, his fire-infused fingertips dancing along Yeonjun’s sensitive skin. It was addictive, intoxicating; Yeonjun felt with his entire being, and there was nothing hotter - pun intended - than watching the Spirit slowly lose himself to the pleasure. Pleasure that _Taehyun_ was giving him.

Their Link was a perfect guide map; Taehyun could skillfully navigate it, a strange clarity falling over him as he watched Yeonjun’s beautiful lips part. He leaned up a bit to muffle his Spirit’s moans with another kiss, in disbelief he was being this bold but Yeonjun was a terrible influence on him and he _loved it_.

Loved _him_.

_“You’re so sensitive…I love it.”_

_“Shuh … Shut up…”_

_“I can feel how much you like it. Stop fighting it so much and just enjoy yourself…”_

_“…S-Since when did you get this fucking confident?”_

_“Because of you.”_ Taehyun’s voice was so earnest and full of affection that Yeonjun nearly lost himself right then and there. _“Even before we bonded, you could see past my bullshit; like I’m some kind of open book and I … I used to hate it. But if it’s you… it’s okay. It’s okay because … I know I can trust you. You’re incredible, Yeonjun-hyung, Igniria… let me take care of you?”_

 _“S…Stop being so cute,”_ Yeonjun gasped, ducking his head and leaving himself in prime position for another kiss, this one easily having him coaxed to open his lips to welcome a deeper kiss. Their Perfect Link was a blessing and a curse, and Yeonjun felt as if he was quickly losing his mind… but with a safety net right below him in case he fell.

It was too late, however; he’d fallen for his Sorcerer a long time ago.

 _“You can probably already tell, but I like you, hyung,”_ Taehyun said softly, his voice in their telepathic Link shy but genuine. It was cheating, perhaps, but the young Sorcerer made extensive use of their connection, giving Yeonjun a clear image of what he was feeling. He could feel Yeonjun still above him, heat rushing to his own cheeks at his sheer boldness and buried his face in his Spirit’s neck. _“I really like you.”_

 _“Where… where the hell did you learn_ **_that_ ** _?”_

 _“I just… did what you wanted.”_ Taehyun smiled and stole another kiss as Yeonjun stared at him with rising embarrassment. He squeezed Yeonjun’s hip with his free hand. _“Be my boyfriend, hyung?”_

 _“Wh - you’re asking me that_ **_now?!_ ** _”_

_“I don’t want to waste any more time.”_

_“…Fight me now and I’ll tell you yes.”_

Taehyun smiled fondly and nodded, kissing him again before reaching over for the box of tissue that was on his bedside table. _“Okay, okay.”_ They slowly disengaged from each other and got cleaned up, Yeonjun’s face bright and embarrassed as Taehyun led him down to one of the practice rooms. _“Are you sure you want to do this now?”_

_“You’re not dodging me any longer, Jeon!”_

_“Back to my last name, huh? That’s all right… I can get you to scream my first name soon enough,”_ Taehyun replied cheekily, delighted when Yeonjun took a swing at him - his aim so off due to his embarrassment that he missed wildly.

Soobin groaned as he suddenly appeared, hand gripping the frame, leaning heavily against it as he’d sprinted from the guest room he’d been staying in. “You both just regained consciousness and you’ve pulled him into a fight, hyung?!” he demanded.

With a fond laugh, Taehyun stole another kiss and released his Spirit’s hand, moving to the other side of the practice room. “Let’s go. These hands are rated E for Everyone.” Though Yeonjun was staring at him with disbelief in his eyes, Taehyun could feel the burst of affection and something _more_ through their Link, his smile widening.

“You better hope that they don’t disown you after I embarrass you!” Yeonjun exclaimed.

“You said you’d be my boyfriend anyway,” Taehyun countered, grinning as the Spirit squawked in indignation.

Beomgyu let out a sudden yell and clapped Kai on the back. “I _win!_ ” Kai groaned and put his face in his hands, though a grin creased his lips and was easily visible through his long fingers. The excitement from the peanut gallery only served to bolster Taehyun’s happiness, happiness that rose even higher when he could feel the same coming from Yeonjun’s side of their Perfect Link. They might never be rid of Tiamat's shadow, but they would burn brighter in response.

Taehyun had thought that all Phoenix Spirits were as elegant and as calm as his father, Taehyung. 

That was … until he met Choi Yeonjun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for now for these two! I'm not quite done with this AU yet; these boys will likely show up in the ATEEZ & SKZ side parts that I have planned and maybe even the occasional one-shot. Never say never! 
> 
> This was really fun to write! I hope you all enjoyed it, even a little bit! Stay safe and I purple you~


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